Who payed the critics

An absolute waste of money

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

I've seen this movie because I saw another of the director, The room, and how I loved it, because I thought that why not repeat, but unfortunately, they do not always do good jobs. It's disappointing because it does not count at all. Why it takes a long time to start. Why is lost in planes that say nothing. There are sequences that you do not know what they are for because you already know what you want to tell them. And the end does not add anything.The actors are very well, yes, it's true, they do it very well. The problem is that they do not have much narrative arc.He has a very independent film photograph, that is, he does not have a photograph. It is not used to count anything. It's white and that's it.The address, I do not understand how someone who makes this movie can then make another one so good. In this he does not know what bores. He does not know that he is not going anywhere. He does not know how to put the camera in a place that is not general or close-up.It happens to many directors, who make a great movie in their career and neither the previous nor the following are worth anything. Hopefully that is not the case and have great movies to come.

An Irish film about the life of gas-station caretaker, Josie, a simple-minded good-hearted man, craving for social and love interaction, but somewhat autistic or slightly mentally challenged, and of his life in an isolated town in rural Ireland.The story has many good points and thought-provoking elements of exploration: The nature of friendship -and its limits-, the contradictions of modern Law and old ways of socializing, pace and change in rural areas, the thin limits existing between success and fracas in such an environment, and the depiction of rural life.I think that the movie success at doing well the latter, and the viewer witnesses the lives of the town's apparently happy but deeply dissatisfied dwellers, their miseries and broken dreams, their monotonous social interaction, their role and social hierarchy, and their latent immobility and frustration. In fact, this is a movie about sad frustrated people unwilling to change living in an isolate place that feeds those frustrations.The premise is interesting, no matter how boring life can be in any town, not even in one like this. The problem is the overall dullness of the movie, which is too slow in pace but too schematic in the depiction of the actions and character of the main characters. In fact, if the characters had been drawn with a little bit more of psychological depth and in a less descriptive way, the movie would have had benefited enormously from it. Pat Shortt, the leading actor, is inexpressive in his performance, and I don't think it is his fault, but the director and the script's.The conversations of Josie with the horse, his interaction with some of the teens in town, his sexual frustration and the depiction of his poor personal house and life are the things I liked the most, and also how some fellow-town man and woman change their attitude to Josie when he tries to change. I also liked the end, which is both factual and metaphorical, and very moving, as it shows the repercussions that a little drama can have in the life of a dweller of a narrow-minded town.To me, the dull performances by most actors, the tempo of the movie, and, above all, the poor direction killed a story that had many possibilities.

Anybody who's travelled through the southern west of Ireland may already feel acquainted with such a quiet, semi-rural service station, how someone would fill up your tank for you - and that person might be someone a little like Josie.Josie, naturally but superbly played by Pat Shortt is a slow and steady sort of bloke, who, one summer gets some help and company at work from a 15 year old work experience youth. Natural conversations develop and flow and soon, the normally insular Josie is, unknowingly bitten by this and is soon drinking cans with him and other local lads.However, it is an object that is given to Josie by a travelling lorry driver that awakens senses in him. Its mechanical portrayal of an normally extreme emotional and intimate nature subjects Josie to an skewed stance of women. The only known cast member (to me, at least) Anne Marie-Duff is the subject of his very moderate but maligned attention. She is friendly but firm on the matter.A further instance of poor judgement - one Josie didn't even think about - turns, quietly, his world upside down.Other reviewers have said how bleak the film is. I disagree. The ending, yes but generally, it has the feeling of a laid-back character-led indie film. Modest in aspiration, budget and final outcome. That same outcome is one the most oft used, from Greek literature, Shakespeare and so on. To my mind, it says a lot more about how outside influences can affect, dramatically, an area and a way of life not used to such. And maybe Ireland itself feeling the pressures of such, with traditional moral values being risked, though the film is certainly not preachy.Take 'Garage' as a quiet character piece that gently makes its point.

Garage is Lenny Abrahamson's 2007, award winning, (Prix Art et Essai) Irish drama, starring Pat Shortt. Shortt plays Josie, a simple, tragic character, that lives in and runs the garage in a Tipperary backwater, owned by his former schoolmate, Mr. Gallagher. His life changes over the course of one Summer, when Gallagher introduces him to a boy named David, his new workmate, and a flawed relationship begins to develop. The acting is the most realistic I've ever seen. Every character in this film is taken straight from real life. They might be fictional characters, but each and every one of them exist in villages and towns throughout Ireland. Josie might seem precious and quaint, but there are thousands out there exactly like him. Each role is played to almost frightening accuracy. The Garda, played by Denis Conway, was so real in his attitude and all his dialogue, that it sent chills up my spine. It was acted in an unnaturally close manner to that of a real Garda. The plot doesn't really go very far. It starts in much the same place as it finishes. Although, perhaps it finishes more poignantly than it starts, the poignancy lies in the character of Josie himself and is present throughout the film. Peter Robertson, the Director of Photography, did a superb job. The cinematography is excellent. It's all perfectly framed and captures a certain beauty of location, without losing any realism. Living in a similar location to where this was filmed, I can personally vouch for the accuracy of every aspect of this film. It's amazing. That, funnily enough, was my main reason for disliking this film. I watch films to escape from that sad reality, and it really isn't all that pleasant to have such a close to the bone film in front of your eyes. That was also why I hated Pat Shortt's comedy series, Killinascully. Indeed there are quite a few actors from Killinascully in Garage. People from my area (mainly tractor driving hicks) see things like Killinascully and take them as an instruction manual for life, rather than a comedy series mocking them. So, the main strength of this film, it's realism, is also, for me, it's greatest weakness. I really must congratulate the director on his accuracy, which was outstanding but not appealing to me. I'd say, if you want to know what rural Ireland is really like, watch this. If you live there, just go outside. Or preferably don't. I would recommend seeing this if just for seeing Pat Shortt in a non comedic role. It's a hugely interesting film that deserves to be taken very seriously. I just didn't find it a pleasure to watch. I'm giving it a 6 out of 10, but I'm certain it deserves more.