Five Minutes of Heaven (2009)

In catching up on some overlooked titles of the past year, I came across Five Minutes of Heaven, an Irish movie directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel that is a half-true story about Catholic-Protestant conflict in Northern Ireland during the 1970s.

The part that is true is that in 1975, Alistair Little, a seventeen-year-old Protestant, killed Jim Griffin, a Catholic. Griffin's 11-year-old brother, Joe, witnessed the murder.

The part that is fictionalized is set in the present day, and tells what would happen if Alistair Little and Joe Griffin were brought together to be reconciled on a television show. At this point in the film, Little (Liam Neeson) has recently been released from prison and now holds reconciliation workshops for people involved in the aforementioned conflict. Griffin (James Nesbitt), is an extremely bitter, vengeful and confused man, not least of all, we learn through flashbacks, because his mother blamed him for his brother's death.

This part of the film is highly engrossing, since we get a look at the psychology of this character. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't maintain this high level of intrigue throughout. The problem is that Nesbitt's character is so much more compelling than Neeson's. This is not the fault of Neeson himself; his acting is wonderful here, as always. But Alistair Little is written kind of uninterestingly by screenwriter Guy Hibbert. He is sorry for what he has done, but that's all the information we have. Throughout the film, his only concern is for Griffin's well-being. The audience is given no reason to believe that he would now be such a good person. Maybe if we were shown his journey of regret and redemption it would make more sense, but, unfortunately for the film, he does his changing off-screen.

Joe Griffin, on the other hand, is a well-written character. Hirschbiegel does a nice job of keeping a moderate level of suspense running throughout the film, as we wonder if Griffin will ever take the revenge he wants so desperately. And Nesbitt does such a wonderful job portraying him. His charged, impassioned performance is the highlight of the film.

I would recommend Five Minutes of Heaven, but with some reservation.