Download Five Minutes of Heaven (2009)

Five Minutes of Heaven (2009)
Country: UK
Genre: Drama
Direction: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Cast: Liam Neeson, James Nesbitt and Anamaria Marinca

Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt are teaming up to tackle the Northern Ireland Troubles in "Five Minutes of Heaven." The film tells the story of two men wracked by the violence that plagued Northern Ireland from the late 1960s through to the peace process in 1998, and how they attempt to come to terms with the Troubles' aftermath.


Download Five Minutes of Heaven (2009)

Movie Review:

One of the beauties of Liam Neeson, it seems, is that he’s such a versatile actor that he seems at ease in both the Hollywood blockbuster and on the independent circuit. As the cinematic version of The A-Team gets ready to be a summer blockbuster with Neeson being the highest profile actor in it, and Chloe still in theatres, Neeson’s first venture on the independent circuit in 2010 had a “blink and you miss it” jaunt into theatres in Five Minutes of Heaven.

Joe (James Nesbitt) watched his brother get shot to death as a young child. Alistair (Neeson) killed him as a misguided youth. Decades later, the two are put together as part of a television show on reconciliation. Alistair wants some measure of peace in his life, haunted by the memories of a single action that has never left his mind. Joe, on the other hand, is waiting for his one moment of revenge for an act that ruined his family and left him scarred inside.

The film follows the two on the day of the television show’s taping as they go through the gamut of emotions. Following the two separately, the film’s final act begins when the two meet for the first time under different circumstances then he ever imagined. But what Oliver Hirschbiegel does is interesting; it’s all about delaying the meeting and ratcheting up tension.

Previously behind the helm at the highly underrated Downfall, Hirschbiegel has a definite story about the power of forgiveness he wants to tell. But it isn’t a traditional one, with people weeping and becoming friends afterwords. This is about two men looking for something conclusive to the proceedings that have happened and they both know it.

For Allistair, it’s a chance at letting his victim take a load off and see that he’s become a decent human being. For Joe, its revenge at the man he proceeds to have ruined his life. For us, it’s just a great film.