Barber, 2023.
Directed by Fintan Connolly.
Starring Aidan Gillen, Steve Wall, Desmond Eastwood, Liam Carney, Rúaidhrí Conroy, Gary Lydon, Ailbhe Cowley, Nick Dunning, Isabelle Connolly, Camille O’Sullivan, David Herlihy, Deirdre Donnelly, Helen Behan, Aisling Kearns, Irma Mali, Simone Collins, Gerard Mannix Flynn, and Jimmy Smallhorne.
SYNOPSIS:
‘Val Barber, a private investigator, is hired by a wealthy widow to find her missing granddaughter.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Barber wouldn’t exist.
Although one might be misled and presume co-writer/director Fintan Connolly’s (working alongside Fiona Bergin) Barber is about someone with that occupation, it is actually a film about a fictional character named Vai Barber (capably played by Aidan Gillen), a Dublin private detective. What is initially intriguing is that while there is a missing person’s case to solve, the focus starts more on his vices, family baggage, sexual relations, personal secrets, progressive change in society, hypocrisy from corrupt officers, and how working this job for as long as he has might have destroyed whatever optimistic outlook he once had. However, the filmmakers struggle to ping between those elements and the mystery aspect gracefully.
There is a broken marriage to ex-wife Monica (Helen Behan)) that came about upon her discovering that Val is gay and had been having an affair, something their 19-year-old daughter Kate (Aisling Kearns) hasn’t been briefed on. As a result, Kate places the blame for the divorce on her mom, disapproves of her new partner, and casually helps her father conduct social media research for cases. To pile more on, she is also recovering from a severe car accident that left her with nerve damage to one of her hands and a boyfriend quick to discard her and find someone else. She finds it difficult to live a normal life and not appear to be a “freak”; when out and about in public, with friends pushing her away, all of which feels enough to make a separate movie, but mostly comes across as afterthought details here.
Then there is the disappearance of 20-year-old Sara, with her grandmother (Deirdre Donnelly) hiring Val to investigate. This brings him into a world of powerful male figures accused of sexual misconduct around minors, carrying with them a connection to her stepfather, the last person who saw her. The more Val researches and interviews persons of interest, the more resistance he is met with by a homophobic detective (Liam Carney) who has decided that it’s more important to expose Val’s sexuality rather than catch a potential serial sexual offender of minors. As Val puts it, “Only one of those things is illegal.” It’s also entirely credible that high-ranking law enforcement officials would put more effort into bringing down those with opposing lifestyles instead of real criminals, making this one of the more effective dynamics.
It also made clear that Val once worked as a Guard but faced backlash and ridicule within the force over his sexuality. Barber also aims to tell a story about Ireland’s social progress but fails to capture that movement, settling for blunt dialogue to make its point, with well-intentioned but wooden lines about woke culture and the #MeToo uprising. Val also sees a younger married man in a naturally threatened relationship once the police decide it’s better to spend their resources tailing him instead of notable suspects. There is even a possibility that Val is bisexual, as he befriends another woman.
Unfortunately, the far more intriguing personal drama eventually has to give way to the less engaging mystery portion, which comes with a goofy reveal that is challenging to buy into. It also doesn’t feel necessary considering how much of Val’s life the film is tackling, especially since the sexual identity of a gumshoe angle is somewhat fresh. Barber consistently undermines its inherently fascinating elements in favor of a mystery that spends more time talking about the suspects to the point where they don’t register as characters, let alone function as compelling.
Barber has touches here and there from Aidan Gillen expressing internal conflict with nuance (although the film has characters comment on his subtle actions because it doesn’t trust viewers to unpack it for themselves) that certainly make the central performance worthwhile. Numerous missed opportunities are here, but it’s barely unique and original enough to work, elevated by a strong leading turn and something important to say about corrupt law enforcement.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
