It never claims to be an accurate telling of how the Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley finally shook hands and buried the past, but it contains within it something really powerful and moving. The imagined journey they take together, in the back of a car going to the airport get Paisley back to Belfast for a wedding anniversary likely never took place, but as a dramatic device, it works well (I read that the breakthrough actually came when one day the two of them finally started talking about fishing).
The acting from Timothy Spall and Colm Meaney is faultless. They have the bearing, the accents and the look of the two absolutely nailed. They really inhabit the characters and the on screen chemistry between them is extraordinary and ultimately very moving. By the end, I was welling up, particularly, as I write this on the day - 15 years later - when (as McGuinness predicted back then), it looks like Sinn Fein might be about to provide the First Minister of Northern Ireland for the first time in its history.
The 'containing' plot, which involves Blair, some M15 guy and a camera watching them all the time is pretty absurd and I found it really overcooked and irritating, as are some of the 'narrator' style lines given to John Hurt. Blair is portrayed as an awkward, light weight idiot. But none of that really matters - it's all about Spall and Meaney and who they are playing. Mesmerising performances from both.
This was huge moment in history, heavily fictionalised but beautifully told. The film ends with titles talking about how they finally created a lasting peace together. I so hope that remains true.
The acting from Timothy Spall and Colm Meaney is faultless. They have the bearing, the accents and the look of the two absolutely nailed. They really inhabit the characters and the on screen chemistry between them is extraordinary and ultimately very moving. By the end, I was welling up, particularly, as I write this on the day - 15 years later - when (as McGuinness predicted back then), it looks like Sinn Fein might be about to provide the First Minister of Northern Ireland for the first time in its history.
The 'containing' plot, which involves Blair, some M15 guy and a camera watching them all the time is pretty absurd and I found it really overcooked and irritating, as are some of the 'narrator' style lines given to John Hurt. Blair is portrayed as an awkward, light weight idiot. But none of that really matters - it's all about Spall and Meaney and who they are playing. Mesmerising performances from both.
This was huge moment in history, heavily fictionalised but beautifully told. The film ends with titles talking about how they finally created a lasting peace together. I so hope that remains true.