Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!
The best of the UK straight to your inbox
We help you navigate a myriad of possibilities. Sign up for our newsletter for the best of the city.
By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.
Awesome, you're subscribed!
Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!
By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.
Awesome, you're subscribed!
Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!
By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.
This Irish period drama finally gets a release just weeks before coming out on DVD – an admission, perhaps, of its failed intentions. ‘Middletown’ should be excellent: there’s a great cast, strong performances, classy cinematography and weighty themes. But it all falls down in the narrative. Matthew Macfadyen is Gabriel, a missionary who returns to preach in his home town in what appears to be the 1950s. There, his radical zeal holds no sway with his progressive sister-in-law Caroline (Eva Birthistle). Gradually, though, he puts the fear of God into the locals, who reluctantly start to skip their Sunday pint in case fire and brimstone rain down upon them. But the characters are slight and often clichéd, making the explosive ending excessively melodramatic. Gabriel’s extreme actions are surely the result of a fascinatingly warped mind, but we’re never given access to his thoughts: he rarely speaks outside of the pulpit. There’s scope here for a thought-provoking exploration of moral and religious issues in the community, but the one-dimensional characters and script let it down.
Release Details
Rated:15
Release date:Friday 2 March 2007
Duration:88 mins
Cast and crew
Director:Brian Kirk
Cast:
Matthew Macfadyen
Daniel Mays
Eva Birthistle
Gerard McSorley
Mick Lally
Advertising
Been there, done that? Think again, my friend.
By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.
🙌 Awesome, you're subscribed!
Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!