Good Vibrations
Starring: Richard Dormer, Jodie Whittaker, Dylan Moran
Director: Lisa Barros D'Sa & Glenn Leyburn
Rating: 3.5/5
Lisa Barros D'Sa & Glenn Leyburn reunite this week for the first time since Cherrybomb for new movie Good Vibrations.
Terri Hooley is a radical, rebel and music-lover in 1970s Belfast, when the bloody conflict known as the Troubles shuts down his city.
As all his friends take sides and take up arms, Terri opens a record shop on the most bombed half-mile in Europe and calls it Good Vibrations.
Through it he discovers a compelling voice of resistance in the city’s nascent underground punk scene.
Galvanising the young musicians into action, he becomes the unlikely leader of a motley band of kids and punks who join him in his mission to create a new community, an Alternative Ulster, to bring his city back to life.
Good Vibrations may be set in a time of major unrest in Belfast but this is one of the most uplifting movies of the years so far.
This is a rousing story about how the power of music can bring people together and make them forget about the differences that exist between them.
Richard Dormer gives a terrific performance as Terri Hooley - the man with a real passion for music and a despair for what has happened to his city.
Dormer's depiction of this icon of music shows a man on a mission as he really believes that the young are the future and can bring all of the violence and unrest to an end.
We don't quite get all the way under the skin of the fascinating character but he is an everyman hero that you cannot help but root for.
The relationship that he has with his wife is perhaps not explored as deeply as it could have been which is a real shame. And because of that the talents of the fantastic Jodie Whittaker are not used to their full potential.
But despite this Good Vibrations is a compelling and inspiring story from start to finish - not to mention it has a terrific soundtrack.
The movie is not without its flaws but it is a hugely enjoyable story about one man's love of music.
Good Vibrations is out now.
Tagged in Jodie Whittaker