Five Minutes of Heaven BBC2 9PM

[heinous seamus]

The idea of reconciliation between two men from opposite sides of a life-and-death struggle is perhaps impossible or even incredibly naïve. Five Minutes of Heaven, a film that tracks the lives of two men from the same town but different sides of the Irish political divide, is unlike any other on this subject. One man, Alistair, is a killer; the other, Joe, is the brother of the man he killed. One feels he dare not ask for forgiveness; the other feels incapable of giving it.

I've no idea if it's any good, but my mate is in it giving Liam Neeson a death stare when he walks into a pub

 

[Fedayn]

The idea of reconciliation between two men from opposite sides of a life-and-death struggle is perhaps impossible or even incredibly naïve. Five Minutes of Heaven, a film that tracks the lives of two men from the same town but different sides of the Irish political divide, is unlike any other on this subject. One man, Alistair, is a killer; the other, Joe, is the brother of the man he killed. One feels he dare not ask for forgiveness; the other feels incapable of giving it.

I've no idea if it's any good, but my mate is in it giving Liam Neeson a death stare when he walks into a pub

Based on the ture story of UVF murderer Alaistair Beattie. In real life Joe the brother refused to meet Beattie after admitting he'd maybe kill him if he was in the same room.

 

[gosub]

Why is called 5 minutes of heaven though, sounds closer to Huis-clos

 

[Diamond]

I heard this being previewed on some Mark Lawson fronted show on Radio 4 last weekend. It sounded really good.

 

[danny la rouge]

Well, surprisingly, Nesbitt was really good in it. He and Neeson really held my attention, despite the sometimes clunking authorial intrusions into the dialogue, and even had me ignoring the knife thing, right up to the point when they both fell through a first floor window. Which was just silly. That snapped me out of it, and I started analyzing more than they'd have wanted me to.

But overall, very good.

 

[Griff]

Yep, very good. Held my attention from start to finish, the pair of them were excellent.

 

[DexterTCN]

Nesbitt is of course Protestant while Neeson is Catholic, nice to see the reversal.

Well written...or should I say well transposed to the screen. This could have worked very well as a radio play as well. I very much 'enjoyed' it.

And timely. Very timely.

 

[belboid]

twas indeed very good, if a bit too wordy.

The Neeson character still deserved to be stabbed though his (cold cynical ) heart.

 

[ethel]

The Neeson character still deserved to be stabbed though his (cold cynical ) heart.

therein lies the problem.

 

[danny la rouge]

I liked the fact that the UVF gang were just daft kids, saying "ooh, can I hold the gun", then going off to a disco without a bar.

 

[belboid]

Based on the ture story of UVF murderer Alaistair Beattie. In real life Joe the brother refused to meet Beattie after admitting he'd maybe kill him if he was in the same room.

Alistair Little isn't it? http://www.theforgivenessproject.com/stories/alistair-little

 

[Fedayn]

Alistair Little isn't it? http://www.theforgivenessproject.com/stories/alistair-little

Yeah got the name wrong, dunno why I said beattie?!

 

[London_Calling]

I'm still ambivalent about the ending; they were both locked in the past until the window scene when Neeson enabled Nesbitt so that, in the end, Nesbitt enabled Neeson. At that point they could both move on into the shiny new north.

I suspect that’s a bit cheesy for real life - especially the final phone call. But, as said in the other thread, really excellent work by everyone involved, imo.