This film has received mixed reviews in the press. Either you "get it", it seems, or you don't. I was definitely amused. The film creates a milieu all of its own; a cross between 1950's California and "traditional" Ireland. Some have criticised the setting as being too incredible, in which case they are taking it all too seriously. There are some things that might have been done better. I don't think the production values were great. I didn't like the picture quality, the lighting wasn't great (night scenes in particular were very murky, daytime interior scenes were spoiled by the windows being completely washed out). Perhaps a lot of this is down to the fact that the Carney Brothers change things a lot on the hoof, making it difficult for every one else to keep up. Too bad. Maybe they just need more experience.
Film does miss a few tricks. There was plenty of room to explore how the main protagonists came by their original costumes. Just a few comic touches would have made a difference. They could have be shown literally digging their way out of the rehab institute(a parody of Shawshank Redemption comes to mind). Just simply overlaying the sound of distant baying hounds over their escape through the forest would have been funny. Other things. It could have been funnier, with a little more work, or perhaps more people to work on the script. The boxing match could have been funnier too; there's a whole genre of boxing movies just begging to be parodied, but not here.
Good performances all round. Pearse was very good, and in fact I wonder what it would have been like if he had the lead part. He's a funny guy, and savvy with it. That's not to take anything away from Delaney.
Unfortunately (I sigh) as is so often the case with Irish movies, film is let down by unnecessary crudity. There was no need for the faux-choc use of the F word to describe what Zonad was doing to the women of Ballymoran (they should have gone all the way, by the way, and called it Ballymorawn); it would have been much funnier for the characters to say he was riding them. Also, I didn't think that the cop p*ssing all over some of the main characters was all that funny (believe me, it looks funnier here in print than it is on the screen. It would have been much funnier if they at least made the victims completely sopping, drenched/soaked through). The scene where a major character invites his girlfriend to gargle with his balls (among other intimate invitations) wasn't funny at all. These shenanigans serve only to reduce the audience for the film. The Oirish penchant for having somebody p*ssing or sh*tting at some point is fully indulged, of course.
Film may be especially interesting to some sections of the American audience interested in Ireland and the Irish. There is a saying; "many a true word is said in jest". Zonad is a big joke (in the best sense) but the insights it gives are all the more true for it, bigger and more colorful than they might otherwise be.
Film does miss a few tricks. There was plenty of room to explore how the main protagonists came by their original costumes. Just a few comic touches would have made a difference. They could have be shown literally digging their way out of the rehab institute(a parody of Shawshank Redemption comes to mind). Just simply overlaying the sound of distant baying hounds over their escape through the forest would have been funny. Other things. It could have been funnier, with a little more work, or perhaps more people to work on the script. The boxing match could have been funnier too; there's a whole genre of boxing movies just begging to be parodied, but not here.
Good performances all round. Pearse was very good, and in fact I wonder what it would have been like if he had the lead part. He's a funny guy, and savvy with it. That's not to take anything away from Delaney.
Unfortunately (I sigh) as is so often the case with Irish movies, film is let down by unnecessary crudity. There was no need for the faux-choc use of the F word to describe what Zonad was doing to the women of Ballymoran (they should have gone all the way, by the way, and called it Ballymorawn); it would have been much funnier for the characters to say he was riding them. Also, I didn't think that the cop p*ssing all over some of the main characters was all that funny (believe me, it looks funnier here in print than it is on the screen. It would have been much funnier if they at least made the victims completely sopping, drenched/soaked through). The scene where a major character invites his girlfriend to gargle with his balls (among other intimate invitations) wasn't funny at all. These shenanigans serve only to reduce the audience for the film. The Oirish penchant for having somebody p*ssing or sh*tting at some point is fully indulged, of course.
Film may be especially interesting to some sections of the American audience interested in Ireland and the Irish. There is a saying; "many a true word is said in jest". Zonad is a big joke (in the best sense) but the insights it gives are all the more true for it, bigger and more colorful than they might otherwise be.