Five Minutes of Heaven

2009 "To face the future, they must face the past."
6.6| 1h29m| R| en| More Info
Released: 19 January 2009 Released
Producted By: BBC Film
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

The story of former UVF member Alistair Little. Twenty-five years after Little killed Joe Griffen's brother, the media arrange an auspicious meeting between the two.

Genre

Drama, Thriller, Crime

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Five Minutes of Heaven (2009) is now streaming with subscription on AMC+

Director

Oliver Hirschbiegel

Production Companies

BBC Film

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Five Minutes of Heaven Audience Reviews

UnowPriceless hyped garbage
Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated
Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
gavin6942 The story of former UVF member Alistair Little (Liam Neeson). Twenty-five years after Little killed Joe Griffen's brother, the media arrange an auspicious meeting between the two.Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter called it "very good at stating the obvious but fails to bring new insight to this age-old morality tale". That seems like a fair opinion to me. The film is good, topical, and Neeson is a great casting choice. But it does not seem to add anything new.Sadly, I am not sure if this film had much impact outside of the United Kingdom, because the Irish problem is something Americans are only vaguely aware of.
Hitchcoc I really had a hard time knowing what to make of this film. The opening is striking as a group of young Irish men plot the killing of another because you have to do something in the hornet's nest they are living in. Not only do they accomplish the killing, they destroy the life of a boy, the victim's brother, who witnessed everything. The most unfortunate thing is that this boy is blamed by his mother for not doing something to stop things. It then moves many years in the future. The two men are to meet on a kind of talk show. Incredible tension builds as the killer (played by Liam Neeson) gives some testimony and awaits the man whose life he pretty much destroyed. The outstanding thing about this film that there are no sides. As Neeson's character said, at the time he was proud. He went to bars and was hailed as a hero. He also knows that there is no forgiveness, no sorrow that can change anything. We await their confrontation. I will not comment on the events that follow. Suffice it to say that they are extremely intense and, I thought, satisfying.
nyshrink I'm writing this review to state that having counseled people who've committed murder, I think this film rings true. Both characters are portrayed with psychological accuracy. I also thought the film was quite suspenseful, since we know at some point there is going to be a confrontation, but we don't know when or exactly how. This type of real-life suspense is much more nerve-wracking than a contrived chase scene with fake explosions in a Hollywoood movie.I'm not an expert on Irish history so I can't critique the film from that angle. I'm not sure whether it matters as this type of story could take place in the setting of any of many conflicts.
Brigid O Sullivan (wisewebwoman) This film had great potential and missed the mark widely. Too much repetitive dialogue, too many 2 x 4s which ruined the subtlety.This is based on a true story: In 1975 Alistair Little murdered Jimmy Griffin with a young witness, Joe, Jimmy's little brother. Alistair would have murdered Joe also if he had known of the relationship.The script hypothesizes a reconciliation on film between the two main characters Alistair (Liam Neeson) and Joe (James Nesbitt).The Troubles of Northern Island are well captured: the coldness of a killing to achieve manhood and heroism, with differences in religion being the only excuse.It is when the film shifts to today that a clunkiness sets in where a lightness of touch is called for. James Nesbitt, a brilliant actor, overplays scenes that should have been far more subtle, case in point being the shiv he keeps taking out and fondling. Yeah, we really get it. And are smart enough to make the connection to Alistair fondling the gun previously the first time.A fight scene falls (no pun intended) completely flat. As does the 'are they dead?' of the fight at the OK Corral. This is where a psychological war of words would have really played well. I didn't believe it for a second. And a rather forced key role of a 'runner' stole from the tension between the two men. Stark "show don't tell" moment would have worked very well here. Instead we are offered the gossip of the runner commenting on her interactions with the two leads.The ending was way too over the top for me. Liam Neeson on his knees in the middle of London while on a cell phone. No! Understatement would have worked way, way better.6 out of 10 for the leads, and an F for the script. Liam and James were great.