Six Shooter (2004)

“Donnelly” (Brendan Gleeson) isn’t having a good day. He has just left his deceased wife in hospital and is getting the train home when he sits across from a young lad (Rúaidhri Conroy) who’s a bit free with his language and is, as my gran used to say, a little pass remarkable. His targets are a couple who board at the next stop and who don’t look very happy. It turns out that she (Aisling O’Sullivan) and her husband (David Wilmot) have had some fairly traumatic news of their own, and swiftly the smart-mouthed kid’s provocative comments lead to the first of a couple of tragic events on a journey which provides “Donnelly” with food for thought not just as he travels, but when he gets home to their rabbit “David”, too. Now if you are recently grief-stricken then maybe this won’t be for you, but otherwise it is a darkly comedic take on what makes us tick. At times it is almost daring us to laugh, knowing that there’s precious little from these scenarios that we ought to want to smile about. Conroy is a natural, and though he doesn’t feature quite so prominently, Gleeson proves the perfect foil as he has to come to terms with the day’s events. Sure, it over-eggs things for dramatic effect a bit, but I think that’s what makes this enjoyable, and well worth a watch. Celtic humour at it’s bleakest.