Middletown

Reverend Gabriel Hunter rides into town like Ian Paisley in a ten gallon hat, the very definition of a sanctimonious prick.

Film Review by Cara McGuigan | 12 Mar 2007
Film title: Middletown
Release date: 26 March.

Set in 1960s Northern Ireland - so miserable and damp it seeps through the TV screen - Middletown is the tale of the prodigal son in reverse.

Returning to Middletown after theological college, Reverend Gabriel Hunter (Matthew McFadyen) rides into town like Ian Paisley in a ten gallon hat, the very definition of a sanctimonious prick.

His feckless brother Jim (Daniel Mays) is married to the feisty and heavily pregnant local innkeeper's daughter, Caroline (Eva Birthistle). Gabriel unfortunately decides that Caroline and her pub are the genesis of all sin in the town, firmly wedging his unfortunate brother between the proverbial rock and hard place. However, it's not until their father decides who to leave his business to that the shit really heads fanwards.

McFadyen is odious in the extreme as the unhinged Gabriel, but it's the mud and small-mindedness that leaves the most lasting impression. It's an interesting twist on the Irish Catholic movie cliché that the Protestants had it just as dreich, regardless of hellfire or brimstone. [Cara McGuigan]

Release Date: 26 March.