The Wind that Shakes the Barley

THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY (2006) - Sept. 9, 2006
A disappointment. Though Cillian Murphy gave an expectedly electrifying performance, this film is just not up to his level. For one thing, Ken Loach's direction is bland almost to the point of non-existence. Even more problematic, the film just isn't all that interesting; it probably didn't help that I knew nothing about the whole conflict, and I think the film assumes you have at least a little knowledge of the situation (a little bit of text at the beginning would have really helped). Aside from Cillian Murphy and a couple of other people, all the characters were pretty much interchangable. And there's a point where I thought the movie would end, but it keeps going for at least half an hour. Plus the strong Irish accents didn't help matters (I missed a good chunk of the dialogue). And then there's the little things, like why weren't there any squibs in this movie? It's a really minor complaint, but it kind of takes you out of the movie when a guy gets shot and just falls over, especially in a film that's otherwise so gritty. **