Cultural note

We (the fiancee and I) saw Intermission the other day. Good little Irish movie with numerous plot threads like a Guy Ritchie movie, about what people do when they have unplanned intermissions in their love lives -- husband walking out, break-up with girlfriend, dry spell, etc. -- while trying to make the most of their unsatisfying jobs, with a funny robbery-kidnapping subplot thrown in. Some very funny stuff too. Starred Colin Farrell as a thief (and his EXTREMELY thick Irish brogue), Colm Meaney as a violent cop (he's a staple in all the Irish flicks -- The Commitments, Waking Ned Devine, etc.), Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter 2) and some unknown-in-the-States Irish actors. Good stuff, funny, and some nice sentiment without the nauseating treacle that infests US-made movies.

Here's info from the website: An ill-timed and poorly executed break-up sets off a chain of events affecting everyone in town. There's the hapless romantic and his sex-starved best friend, the hotshot detective and the crook he's after, a young girl on the rebound with an older married man (not to mention his deserted wife), an ambitious TV producer, abandoned fiancée, preteen trouble-maker -- all unaware of how their choices are profoundly intertwined.