Movie-Rory O'Shea Was Here

Rory O'Shea Was Here was kind of the anti The Sea Inside which I had recently seen and reviewed. It is about a young man with muscular dystrophy put into a home for the disabled, and fights every way he can to be free of it, and to live as much and as hard as he can.

And he inspires others in the home to do the same, particularly Michael, with cerebral palsy. As they both claim life outside the home, Rory revels in living, while Michael finds that life can be messier than he realised.

This movie must have been such a pain to market. A movie about two men in wheelchairs, one with such a bad speech impediment that you can't understand him, trying to live with the help of a care giver. Wow...really sounds like people will plunk down good money to see this one...no car chases or fights or love scenes (unless you count the scene where the good looking care giver gives Michael a bath and he, to his shame, gets a boner) or graphic nudity. But the movie is really compelling, in great part because of the two lead performances.

James McAvoy (known after this movie most for his role in Last King of Scotland) is brilliant, and I think is building a great reputation for himself as a fine actor taking tough roles. And this is tough, playing the title character. Rory is not meek and mild, he is rock and roll and booze and women...and just happens to be confined to a wheelchair. Equal is Steven Robertson playing Michael. He is meek and mild, and Rory inspires him to find more in life than the Disabled Home he has known for much of his life.

A strong supporting cast gives these two actors plenty to work with, and a huge emotional range to play off of, from triumph and heartache to sadness and victory. And they play it to the limit when it is called for and quietly as that is needed also.

Roy O'Shea Was Here (2004) is a great little film. Even without the car chases and gun fights. Maybe...just maybe, this is what films should strive more for, great characters and stories, with actors who make it work, not just pretty people. Rory O'Shea Was Here reminds us of what movies can deliver. Even more, it reminds of us of what we have and not to take life for granted.