Viewed in
2010
Formats
DVD
Premise
Based on his autobiography, Gerry Conlon and his family are imprisoned after he is forced to confess an IRA bombing he did not do.
Loved
Daniel Day-Lewis.
Liked
The father-son dynamic story.
Thoughts
I've heard about Day-Lewis' performance for a long time, and it was as great as advertised.
The first half did not really blow me away, but each scene had a purpose and set everything up for an emotional second half, when it became an excellent prison drama. What was fascinating was as Conlon tried to adjust to prison, he also dealt with a lifetime of family strife by sharing a cell with his difficult father. There, we got a lot of painful venting and confessions.
It was in the last act when everything hit their emotional high, especially the acting. Emma Thompson and Pete Postlethwaite had some powerful moments here. But Day-Lewis's performance was truly on a level of its own. His stark transformation was not just physical, there was a great scene where you can look into his eyes, and just feel "whoa, this is completely different soul". The piercing intensity in his performance reminded me a lot of Christian Bale. Both know how to boldly dive into their characters, almost to the point of sacrificing body health and mental state.
All three actors deserved their acting nominations. Granted it's been a while since I recall Tom Hanks' performance in Philadelphia, but I think Day-Lewis should have won. (Talk about powerhouse acting in 1994, a three-way battle between Hanks, Day-Lewis, and Liam Neeson in Schindler's List.)
While based on the book, sadly I've been told a lot of the details have changed. Even so, the story was fantastic. Being not too familiar with the Irish/English violence in the 1970's and 1980's, it did a good job of reflecting that time and tension. The themes of terrorism, extreme interrogation and family troubles were just as universal today. Probably my biggest issue with the plot was that the climactic trial scenes were a bit too convenient.
The first act took some patience, but it was worth the wait for the setup for some powerful emotions and memorable acting.
What I would change
Nothing.
Random
If you look carefully, you could see a younger Tom Wilkinson, and an unrecognizable Saffron Burrows.
