Reviewer's Rating 3 out of 5
Wild about Harry (2000)
15

A light romantic comedy with poignant undertones, "Wild about Harry" is a sweet-natured examination of lost innocence and redemption - let down somewhat by its preposterous thriller subplot.

Harry McKee (Gleeson) is a TV chef notorious throughout Ireland for his bed-hopping. His son hates him, his daughter pities him, and his wife, Ruth (Donohoe), is about to leave him.

The night before he's due in court to finalise his divorce, Harry gets badly beaten up. Unable to remember anything from the last 25 years, he has to piece his life together before the next divorce hearing. Complicating matters futher is James Nesbitt as a loony politician, who's out to get Harry after being humiliated on his TV show.

What follows is never less than predictable, as Harry - an 18-year-old stuck in the body of a middle-aged man - catches up on a quarter of a century of world events (forget the Berlin Wall, he's more shocked to discover that Elton John is gay) and displays the fresh-faced vitality that made Ruth fall in love with him so many years before.

That it all works is down to Colin Bateman's witty and insightful screenplay, and Gleeson, whose superb dual performance - as the cynical middle-aged pain and teenage chump - is both amusing and heart-rending.

It's a shame, then, that the film makers include the clunky, entirely unconvincing story strand with Nesbitt's demented MP. In a film where every other character has an air of authenticity, and likable performances to match, Nesbitt's caricature is a lazy story device used to bring this otherwise immensely enjoyable and moving comedy to a suitably 'dramatic' conclusion.

End Credits

Director: Declan Lowney

Writer: Colin Bateman

Stars: Brendan Gleeson, Amanda Donohoe, James Nesbitt, George Wendt, Henry Deazley, Adrian Dunbar

Genre: Thriller, Comedy

Length: 91 minutes

Original: 2000

Cinema: 26 October 2001

Country: UK

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