The
mockumentary is perhaps one of the hardest (sub?) genres to get right in film.
It is all about balance. For every great Christopher Guest film (Spinal Tap, Best in Show) there are
other appalling examples like Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno. It is a type of film that is rife with pitfalls. It can
become a parody of a parody or it could, depending on the subject matter be
offensive. Judge it right, however, and it can be quite brilliant.
As
this particular film started and the title came up, I have to admit my heart
sank a little. I don’t really recall an Irish mockumentary at all to be honest,
never mind a good one. This title seemed to suggest a bawdy, tasteless and painfully
unfunny foray into a subject matter that the Irish are not that keen on
discussing: sex. So imagine my surprise then when it turned out to be a quite
funny and very enjoyable hour’s entertainment.
The
film starts off with the presenter of the ‘documentary’ on the Irish porn
industry (does this even exist?) talking to camera about his style and previous
mistakes. It is a crucial introduction in many ways as he is the only character
in this film that we can identify with. He is the Irish everyman for the ages:
repressed, easily embarrassed by sex yet there is a lustful vibe just below the
surface (this is not a sex pun). During the film he interviews a variety of
stock characters about their experiences in the industry. There is the male
performer Anthony ‘Pirate Pete’ Reddy (Brian O’Riordan), the sexy older woman
Eilish ‘Cherri Roxx’ Moran (Karren O’Rafferty), the delusional Paris Hilton
like ‘Irish’ American erotic star Amber ‘Seire’ Moriarty (Zoe Slusar) who
dreams of being a brand and lastly Colin Stephens (Tim Casey) who runs Leaprehorn
productions. All of the interviews are interspersed.
As
mentioned, these are generic characters and with that, there are some parts
that work better than others. The best by some distance is Anthony ‘Pirate
Pete’ Reddy who is a terrific creation, dispensing some of the most
inappropriate anecdotes from his experiences in the porn industry regardless of
the questions asked of him. Yes, this is broad sex comedy stuff, which can
sometimes be funny just when hearing it with an Irish accent, but there is more
here than that. He is brilliant and is missed when off screen. Eilish ‘Cherri
Roxx’ Moran is less funny. The actress gives it her all but it mostly consists
of hearing an older Irish woman using filthy phraseology. There are a couple of
chuckles in there, however. Least successful is the Amber ‘Seire’ segment which
gets annoying very quickly (her claim about being one fifteenth Irish made me
laugh however). She complains all the time about what she has to endure and it
quickly drains the film of momentum. I would like to have seen much less of her
and more of the porn movie mogul (in Irish terms) Colin Stephens who runs Leaprehorn
productions. It may be the teenager in me, but that pun really works. He talks
all too briefly about why he got into the business: basically because Americans
were making cod Irish porn productions. This is a really interesting comment on
general American film productions set in Ireland such P.S. I Love You and Leap Year.
I would like to have seen more of this character but alas he has only one
scene. I don’t want to reveal the porn film parody name of the Irish film they
he is making but it is very funny.
Overall,
there is a funny script by Andrew Anderson and the direction by David Meade is
fine for documentary style - if a little bit flat. The production values are
low as befits a low budget venture so it is unlikely this will be seen in
cinemas. Its running time of just under an hour would also seem to confirm
this. But if you happened upon this on Netflix or late night TV in the wee
small hours whilst having a few beers, this is the kind of film that would keep
you solidly entertained with some good laughs to be had.
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