Trouble with Sex

This is a good looking sexy Irish film and no one is talking in that cod Dublin accent so beloved of Irish filmmakers. Featuring solid performances from Aidan Gillen and newcomer Renee Weldon as two lovers adrift in present day Dublin who meet in a pub, this is a curiously engaging film. The dialogue is relatively sparse, the piece very European. Images are used to tell the story. There are some good cameos – Eamonn Morrissey singing I got my hole on the Malahide Road and a barfly talking about playing handball against the twin towers "before they knocked them over". The story is very straightforward. Weldon strikes up a relationship with the reserved Gillen, they get it on and begin a series of sexual assignations in and around the city. Never mind the explicit 9 Songs. Here, the love scenes are well handled, stylised and the whole thing kind of works. Dublin has never looked so romantic, thanks to striking photography and good songs. You can smoke in these pubs. Weldon is especially good and you can see why she won awards for her acting. High point Weldon, low point extraneous detail. Warning: Brendan Gleeson is not in this film.