Leonard Maltin's 151 Best Movies You've Never Seen - Maltin, Leonard [41]
French actress Parillaud, who caused a sensation in La Femme Nikita, is perfectly cast as a sexy vampire who walks the streets of Pittsburgh at night in search of sustenance. It turns out she has a predilection for “bad boys,” and once she sinks her teeth into ruthless mob boss Loggia, she wants more of the same. Undercover cop LaPaglia forms an unholy alliance with her and tries to stop the rabid Loggia from infecting the entire city.
As usual, Landis takes the concept of in-jokes to extremes by fleshing out his cast (ahem) with the likes of B-movie babe Linnea Quigley, horror-makeup master Tom Savini, Famous Monsters of Filmland guru Forrest J. Ackerman, pop culture publisher Russ Cochran, Muppet master and filmmaker Frank Oz (a Landis regular), and a handful of fellow directors: Michael Ritchie and horror maestros Sam Raimi and Dario Argento.
Most people who don’t care for this film—and that includes many of the critics who wrote it up in 1992—found its tone wildly uneven. They’re not wrong—it can be gruesome at one moment, funny the next—but I find that a heady brew. And if the result isn’t quite as cohesive as John Landis’s earlier gem An American Werewolf in London, I still enjoy the roller-coaster ride.
I don’t often use the term “guilty pleasure” to describe movies I like, but this is a notable exception.
57. INTERMISSION
(2003)
Directed by John Crowley
Screenplay by Mark O’Rowe
Actors:
COLIN FARRELL
SHIRLEY HENDERSON
KELLY MACDONALD
COLM MEANEY
CILLIAN MURPHY
GER RYAN
BRIAN F. O’BYRNE
BARBARA BERGIN
MICHAEL MCELHATTON
DEIRDRE O’KANE
DAVID WILMOT
TOM O’SULLIVAN
OWEN ROE
TAYLOR MOLLOY
JEFF O’TOOLE
LAURENCE KINLAN
Colin Farrell had just had a run of films that cemented his stardom in the United States (Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, S.W.A.T., and especially Daredevil) when he turned up as part of an ensemble in Intermission. I thought his star wattage would draw attention to this terrific film, but it didn’t. In the wake of Guy Ritchie’s success stateside with Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, this boisterous Irish blend of crime, romance, and comedy should have attracted the same audience…but it’s never too late.
Intermission lets us know what we’re in for in the opening scene, in which a friendly conversation is punctuated with an unexpected burst of violence. In a prime example of post-Tarantino storytelling, writer Mark O’Rowe and director John Crowley keep us on our toes, fearlessly and flawlessly veering from comedy to drama, from romance to action, as they weave a daunting number of ingredients together. (Variety’s Derek Elley counted eleven story lines and at least fifty-four speaking parts.)
All you really have to know is that Intermission profiles people from various walks of life, from a married woman who’s just been dumped to a cop who thinks he belongs on a reality TV show. They’re all searching or striving for something in their lives: respect, tenderness, sex, cash, a chance to break free, a chance to fit in.
As it turns out, all of these lives are intertwined, in ways we can’t possibly predict. While it’s highly entertaining to see how the threads eventually connect, what really matters is that each character is so fully realized.
Best of all, each part is perfectly cast. Intermission features an all-star cast of Irish and British actors whose names may not be of the household variety, although their faces are. In the years since Intermission was made, such sterling actors as Colm Meaney, Kelly Macdonald, Shirley Henderson, Cillian Murphy, Brian F. O’Byrne, and David Wilmot have continued to thrive on stage, screen, and television in the UK and the United States. (A little girl named Emma Bolger who appears in the opening scene made an even stronger impression when In America opened in the States later in 2003. She plays one of Paddy Considine’s daughters in that lovely film.)
In the immediate wake of Pulp Fiction