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Five Minutes of Heaven

Five Minutes of Heaven

Five Minutes of Heaven is a gritty thriller exploring aspects of Northern Ireland’s troubled past and the challenges the future holds in coming to terms with it.

The story begins in 1975 when 17-year-old Alistair Little, a member of the UVF (a Northern Irish paramililtary group), murdered a 19-year-old Catholic, Jim Griffin, in Lurgan. It was witnessed by Jim's younger brother, Joe. Thirty years later Joe Griffin (James Nesbitt) and Alistair (Liam Neeson) are set up to meet, on camera and arranged by the media. The aim is to reconcile, but Joe has different motives.

Starring Liam Neeson, James Nesbitt, Anamaria Marinca, Juliet Crawford, Gerry Doherty, Paul Garret

Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel ('Downfall', 'The Experiment')

Written by Guy Hibbert

Festivals & Awards Won Best World Cinema Director (Oliver Hirschbiegel) and World Cinema Screenwriting Award (Guy Hibbert), Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival, 2009.

Thriller, Drama, Crime | 1hr 30mins | Rated (M) | Origin: UK

Flicks review

  • For a film that picked up a couple of awards at the uber-trendy Sundance film festival, Five Minutes of Heaven is a pretty bland albeit solid piece of work.

    It starts out promisingly: a murder is shot in a muted, minimalist tone that doesn’t glamourise the on screen violence but reels you in with expressive sound design, turning atmospheric noises into a soundscape of genuine tension. The remainder of the film though fails to consistently deliver on its strong opening.

    While the actors more than step up to the mark, with James Nesbitt’s jittery, psychologically crumbling victim finding its perfect foil in the sad melancholy of Liam Neeson’s repentant murderer, structural flaws in the script prevent a superbly performed dramatic duel from reaching its full potential. It appears more concerned with superfluous voiceovers and snippets of flashback than exploring the conflict at the heart of the story. As a result, the middle section sags and surrenders much of its narrative momentum. In a strange move, it also shifts the viewer's sympathies to Neeson’s killer.

    Five Minutes of Heaven gets a second wind in time for a decent climatic sequence and for the most part gets its personal healing and terrorism related message across, but it never rises above the level of a mixed bag.

    By Andreas Heinemann, Flicks.co.nz

 Our Rating       3

The Peoples voice

  • Boring and waste of time

     1

    The movie was boring and not interesting at all. I had to keep waking my partner up. Don't recommend this movie at all. Poor quality movie for two good actors,

    By Diane

 Collective Voice    0000000000001.00

Your review has been posted, you have spoken, and for that we thank you. – Ed.

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Press Reviews

  • Hollywood Reporter

    Based on a true story -- that never happened. That might explain why the film circles and circles its subject but never strikes dramatic pay dirt.
    Click to read the full review

  • New York Times

    A feature-length talkathon built on a sketchy premise, some unpersuasive psychology, a pinch of politics and strong star turns from Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt, the appeal of all those words runs out long before the director Oliver Hirschbiegel turns off the spigot.
    Click to read the full review

  • Otago Daily Times (Christine Powley)

    4 4 out of 5 stars

    Troubled pasts relived once the last bullet is fired.
    Click to read the full review

  • San Fransico Chronicle

    An imperfect but intensely human movie that ponders the aftershock of violence, could have been an exercise in overacted sappiness. Instead, it's as hard and uncompromising as remorse.
    Click to read the full review

  • Total Film (UK)

    4 4 out of 5 stars

    Half-truth and reconciliation are the driving forces behind this powerful drama from the writer of Omagh (Guy Hibbert), which takes a real-life tragedy as the starting point for a hard-hitting exploration of Northern Ireland’s troubled past and uneasy future.
    Click to read the full review

  • Variety (USA)

    Powerhouse performances by Liam Neeson and James Nesbit make this an intense, ultimately moving tale.
    Click to read the full review

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