The Belly of the Whale review: 'A bits and pieces film, full of loose ends and stray plot lines'
2 stars
Co-written and directed by Morgan Bushe, The Belly Of The Whale has a quaint feel and might have been made in the 1980s.
Pat Shortt is Ronald Tanner, a shambling alcoholic who’s trying to raise money for his ill wife’s operation by flogging talking teddy bears.
It’s a doomed plan of course, but after he’s laughed out of it by small town arcade owner Gits Dallas (Michael Smiley), Tanner joins forces with a local delinquent teen (Lewis McDougall) to get his own back.
Shortt and Smiley do their best in two-dimensional roles, but this is a bits and pieces film, full of loose ends and stray plot lines insufficiently developed.
(15A, 86 mins)
Also releasing this week:
The Old Man & the Gun review: 'Redford deserves another Oscar nomination for this winningly evocative film' Sorry to Bother You review: 'When it hits the mark, it can be very funny, but it’s also a bit of a mess' Free Solo review: 'A fine documentary'Irish Independent
