PIXIE (Barnaby Thompson 2020)

BARNABY THOMPSON: PIXIE (2020)

http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/px.jpg
DARYL MCCORMACK, BEN HARDY, AND OLIVIA COOKE IN PIXIE

A pretty pickle and a ruthless lass

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid meets In Bruges is how Ben Hardy describes this film which might also be called Irish Guy Ritchie. Hardy is the seductive blond Brit, known lately for X Men and Bohemian Rhapsody, who puts on an Irish accent to play Frank, one of the three leads, a ploy he said he was "terrified" to do. But so did Olivia Cooke, who plays Pixie: she's English too. The third of the youthful lead trio is six-foot-three Daryl McCormack, authentically Irish, Isaiah Jesus "Peaky Blinders," who plays the good natured but innocent Harland. Hardy and Cooke became a couple as a result of this obviously enjoyable shoot, but the good old Daily Mail reports their "budding romance" fizzled during the pandemic lockdown. There are lots of other characters, the recognizable one for Yanks being Alec Baldwin. He plays Father Hector McGrath. head of a gang of crooked priests involved in drug trading. And there's Pixie's twisted family, who are criminals themselves.

Frank and Harland come upon a satchel with over a million euros worth of MDMA and go for a runner with it driving an old Mercedes with a corpse in the boot. Pixie turns out to be the truly ruthless one, planning to avenge her mother by this big heist. The trio, Pixie, Harland, and Frank escape a shootout in a country church hoping to go far and live wild. Only later the two best mates realize the young lady has all along had other plans. She may not realize just what a mess they have all landed in. Whenever these three actors are on the screen, fun is in the air, particularly when they're in the old Mercedes. It's obvious they were having a good time and it's infectious.

Barnaby Thompson's script isn't as extreme or clever as his obvious sources, frankly, but the film's got gorgeous deeply colored wild west of Ireland landscapes, often seen from above, plus plenty of humor and a number of lighthearted and absurd moments. The latter like the line thrown away in the trailer where Ben, talking to a choirboy he runs into at a bus stop who's well past his sexual sell-by date, whom he leaves with this persuasive nugget: "If the good Lord didn't mean for you and I to eat pussy, why did he make it look like a taco?" Tacos may never look quite the same. Can we see the beneficial influence of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's brilliant and outrageous "Fleabag" here?

Barnaby Thompson is English, but got his start producing in Hollywood. He returned home and has produced ten films in the UK. Now he plays the role of managing the historic Ealing Studios, where some of England's greatest films were made, the forties and fifties Ealing comedies, which include the great Alec Guinness classics, King Hearts and coronets and The Man in the White Suit. Others are The Lavender Hill Mob, also Guinness, Whisky Galore and Passport to Pimlico. In the sixty years since, those comedy accomplishments have not been repeated, and they aren't here in this English-Irish hybrid.

Some of the Irish dialogue requires a careful listen for Yanks, but the fun atmosphere and the pleasant songs are easy to respond to. This is a cut above some of the stuff that traditionally gets dumped at the start of a new year and as Ben Hardy says in an interview, could put you in a good mood for the rest of the day. But don't expect something unforgettable like those Ealing comedies.

Pixie, 93 mins., opened in the Uk Oct. 23, 2020, in Ireland Dec. 4 and Australia Jan. 2021. Opening in the US in select theaters, on digital and on demand Mar. 5, 2021.