Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Michael Kinirons
Starring: Ollie West, David O’Hara, Éanna Hardwicke, Aisling O’Sullivan, Isabelle
Connolly, Dara Devaney, Mark O’Halloran
"Why can't you be normal?"
It's a question many an insensitive parent has asked of a child at some
point, but one whose answer they usually don't want to hear. That's
certainly the case with Larry (David O'Hara), the gruff Irish
patriarch of the family at the centre of Michael Kinirons'
directorial debut The Sparrow. Larry asks the question of his troubled teenage son Kevin (Ollie West), but deep down he knows the answer. Kevin knows it too but he isn't
willing to rile up his old man further by verbalising it. Besides, this is a
military family in rural Ireland, not the place for men to be expressing
their emotions.
Kevin can't be "normal" because he's still scarred by the death of his
mother, killed in a car crash alongside the man with whom she was having an
affair. Larry, and Kevin's older brother Robbie (Éanna Hardwicke),
refuse to ever speak of her, but Kevin secretly retreats into the arms of
her memory, donning her leather jacket, Pogues t-shirt and even applying her
lipstick. If the latter suggests Kevin's sexuality might be another bone of
contention for his hyper-masculine father, this idea is soon dismissed when
Kevin encounters Hanna (Isabelle Connolly), a pretty and charismatic
girl who appears to show interest in Kevin. Hanna's curiosity is purely
platonic however - her interest in this wounded boy is mirrored by Kevin
nursing the titular wounded bird back to health - and Kevin retreats back
into his shell when his awkward advances are rebuffed. A dagger is plunged
further into Kevin's heart when he discovers Hanna has been secretly seeing
Robbie.
In movies, whenever two characters head out onto a body of water in a
rickety vessel, you can be sure only one of them will return. That's the
case here, as Kevin causes an accident by lashing out in a moment of rage.
His guilt and inability to confess fuels the ensuing drama. As the local
community rallies, Kevin only becomes more isolated, but his father begins
to display hints of a previously unexpressed warmth amid the tragedy.
The Sparrow is mostly an understated portrayal of some very
Irish men and their repressed feelings. Larry, of course, can only open up
when he has a pint glass in his hand, leading to a beautifully played scene
in which he takes Kevin for drinks in the local pub. The scene begins in
sinister fashion as Larry intimidates the barman into serving his underage
son. We fear for how Larry might behave when a heart full of regret is
combined with a belly full of beer, but the scene takes a surprising twist
as Larry recounts his own father's inability to communicate with his
son.
As Kevin, West just about avoids falling into surly teen cliches and grows
into the role as guilt eats away at Kevin's already gnawed-on soul. The
standout performance is O'Hara, who encapsulates a certain type of Irish
male, a descendant of a long line of men who refused to acknowledge their
feelings. Rising star Hardwicke is very good as a young man who may not be
all that comfortable with his "favourite son" designation.
Ironically, given its quiet condemnation of repression,
The Sparrow succeeds best when it keeps its own emotions under
wraps. Kevin and Larry are powder kegs of concealed emotions, but the
inevitable explosion sees the film veer a little too close to melodrama. The
subplot that gives the film its title is a tad on-the-nose and ultimately
adds very little to the narrative. While The Sparrow lacks the
depth of recent Irish dramas that have interrogated the soul of their nation
(The Quiet Girl;
Lakelands;
That They May Face the Rising Sun), it's a worthwhile addition to this growing canon of films that attempt
to get to the concealed heart of Ireland.
The Sparrow is in UK/ROI cinemas
from July 5th.
