Inspired acting in film about the power of music, writes Mark Orton.
Director: Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn
Cast: Richard Dormer, Jodie Whittaker, Michael Colgan, Adrian Dunbar, Liam Cunningham, Dylan Moran, Karl Johnson
Rating: (M)
4 stars out of 5.
Central Belfast in the 1970s wasn't exactly the type of place that encouraged social gatherings, much less new business opportunities. With the streets given over to sectarian violence, a lone dissenter with an almost suicidal love of music opens up a record shop.
Good Vibrations is the brainchild of Terri Hooley (Richard Dormer), an effervescent walking encyclopaedia of 1960s and '70s pop culture. Seemingly oblivious to The Troubles on Ulster's streets, Hooley takes a lease amid the vacated premises on the most bombed half-mile in Europe.
The cut and thrust of this timely retelling of Hooley's story is the power of music, in this case the burgeoning Belfast punk scene's ability to transcend religious and political hatred.
But for a film set amid such obvious turmoil, Good Vibrations rarely delves into the ideology and carnage. Hooley takes a motley assortment of disaffected youth under his wing and, irrespective of their religious affiliation, sets about recording and promoting their endeavours.
It's a pretty good story for sure, but the real trump card is Richard Dormer as the one-eyed Hooley. With a bang-on accent and a bag of canny mannerisms, Dormer really nails what it is to be super-passionate, drunk, hilariously unhinged and ever so slightly lost all at the same time.
Best thing: Richard Dormer's inspired performance.
Worst thing: The bad wigs, ever so slightly distracting.
See it with: Anyone who has ever listened to The Peel Sessions.
