paulnm96
Pat Shortt's performance makes this movie critically acclaimed the best Irish film ever made.The story follows Josie (Shortt) a good natured man with learning disabilities which are clearly shown in the movie when he is unable to stand up for himself nor can he interact with the fellow members of the town no more than a mere salut. Josie works in a garage of little interest to the owner Mr. Gallagher (John Keogh) as his wish is to sell the site when an offer arises. Josie employs a young teenager David (Conor Ryan) to help on weekends and soon he befriends with the boy.As Josie befriends David he treats him as an adult. He also befriends a horse which he sees as the same as himself as both the man and the horse are trapped with no way out. He soon becomes the town pariah on a mistake he makes due to his mental disability.This movie is a heartwarming slow-paced sad but enjoyable movie as Shortt shows great acting as Jodie however an over statement to say the least as being the best Irish movie ever made as it is a great performance by all actors but a dense storyline lets down 'Garage'.
Imdbidia
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.
runamokprods
A beautifully shot, well acted film. Slightly familiar and a bit sappy at moments, this is the story of a borderline retarded middle aged man who runs a gas station in a small town in Ireland, and his complex relationship with a teen-ager who comes to work with him. (very general spoiler below)Well made and well intended, with a dark ending, it somehow never quite transcends from good to great. But it's still very worth a look. Along with his 'Adam & Paul' Leonard Abrahamson is clearly an interesting and special film-making voice.
tlooknbill
Believe me this is the most slow paced, void of dialog, boring independent-ish film I've ever seen. It makes Sling Blade look like an action flick. I was watching it to fight off insomnia one late night. Unfortunately it didn't work because after sticking with it to the end I was blown away by how the depiction of desolate rural Ireland life actually drove the story and gave deep meaning to the unbelievable end.So don't get discouraged and grab that remote because you're so bored with this movie you just can't watch another minute because the deadpan, eventless story line really does say something about our society and modern life in a way that creeps up on you and slaps you in the face and makes you think.
