The Journey, 2016
Directed by Nick Hamm
Starring Colm Meaney, Timothy Spall, Freddie Highmore, Toby Stephens, John Hurt
A fictional account of the extraordinary story of two implacable enemies in Northern Ireland – firebrand Democratic Unionist Party leader Paisley and Sinn Fein politician Martin McGuinness
Small character pieces can be hard to pull off sometimes, especially when a filmmaker has a small cast enclosed in such a limited amount of space for the span of their film, but Colm Meaney and Timothy Spall more than make do in Nick Hamm’s The Journey. The film tells the tale of how firebrand minister Ian Paisley (Spall) and former IRA member Martin McGuinness (Meaney) came together during a trip to the airport to reunite the fractured elements of Northern Ireland. It is an interesting character piece that examines the polar opposite views of Paisley and McGuinness and the grey areas of morality after wartime with standout performances from its two leads.
Meaney and Spall’s performances display the complexity within each of their characters to great effect. Both are passionate and unapologetic in their beliefs with neither one willing to budge. The dynamic between them is palpable, with their animosity building to understanding and reluctant respect in a believable manner. Meany’s McGuinness is the more relatable of the two characters as he’s open, conversational and fair. And though McGuinness is steadfast in his belief of the IRA’s cause, there are moments Meaney imbues the character with remorse, giving an emotional performance.
Spall, on the other hand, plays what many have believed to be a bigoted politician throughout his career. Spall’s Paisley is devout in his zealous nature and it’d be difficult to connect with him, yet Spall manages to humanize one of the UK’s most polarizing figures in certain scenes, showing there is more to this character than just the grandstanding speeches and statements. It is also clear just how much work Spall put into his performance, adapting Paisley’s speech and even posture to be a bit more like the real Paisley. His might be the most standout performance of the film.
It is also to Hamm and screenwriter Colin Bateman’s credit that they give fair and balanced presentations of McGuinness and Paisley. Neither one is shown to be truly in the right and examines both their beliefs and actions in a balanced light. Rather than focusing on the past too much, Hamm instead focuses on the future these two carved together, leaving past actions and personalities up to the viewer to decide.
Not all of the subject matter is dire, either, as a great amount of humour is injected into the film. Meaney and Spall share good chemistry and entertaining pieces of banter, along with Freddie Highmore who acts as the pair’s driver, while John Hurt and Toby Stephens carry more humourous moments as MI5 chief Harry Patterson and former Prime Minister Tony Blair on the other side of the film. The humour feels natural, relying on a scene’s situation to bring it to light rather than force it in.
One might also expect a movie where two actors either travel in a car or woods together for nearly all 96 minutes to be fairly boring, but it moves along at a brisk pace and Hamm deviates enough to offer the audience relief from one location. If they’ve been in the car too long, he takes them out. If they’ve been in the woods too long, he takes them back. The change of locations also happen naturally and offer some great scenery and cinematography to the film. The Journey is overall a great character study with outstanding performances by Meaney and Spall. The writing, humour and pace elevate the film the examinations of what it takes for two opposing leaders to see eye-to-eye and bring a lasting piece are thought provoking and more than relate to several political cultures across the world today.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Ricky Church
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Originally published September 11, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
