Revenge films are everywhere. A big, kick-ass bucket full of these furious flicks have crowded the multiplexes in just the last few years alone, including: “The Nightingale”, “Peppermint”, “Mandy”, “The Foreigner”, “Cold Pursuit” and, naturally, “Revenge.”
One reason for this proliferation of payback pictures may be because they are so easy to understand – bad guy(s) hurts me, I hurt bad guy(s). It’s an action packed tit-for-tat that all audiences can wrap their mind around.
Also, let’s be honest – can we? No? Ok, then, let ME be honest – it’s always ME, isn’t it? I have, at times, for the briefest flicker of a few seconds, entertained the idea of getting back at someone who has wronged me. Yes, I admit it – I am not perfect. Now, even so, I am a man of peace. My idea of revenge inevitably involves a super strongly worded Facebook post, water balloons or both. Yet, that impulse lies dormant deep down inside of me and – hate to break it to you if you don’t already know – it’s inside of you as well.
This brings us to a little known Irish film that I had on my Netflix list for some time and, finally, selected and streamed the other night.
Starting off in a small town in rural Ireland, “Bad Day for the Cut” concerns a momma’s man named Donal (Nigel O’Neill). A middle-aged mechanic still living with his mom, Donal is a man of few words and even fewer friends. He’s still single and doesn’t seem to have travelled much beyond his home turf.
One night, Donal is awakened by the sound of his mother crying out for help. Rushing back to the house, he spots a “Fancy” looking guy getting into a car and driving away. When Donal finally gets to his mother, he finds her lying unconscious, on the floor, with a huge gash on her forehead. Though he calls for an ambulance, it’s too late to save her.
Then, a few weeks later, two men come a-calling. Apparently having had their fill of tea and scones, the two men, instead, try to kill Donal. Luckily for Donal, one of the men sent to kill him is the Jerry Lewis of assassins. His name, as we’ll learn later on, is Bartosz (Josef Pawlowski) – a young Polish immigrant with his own troubles.
So, instead of Donal being snuffed out, Donal uses his “skill” around cars to kill the other would-be hitman. From there, Donal and the young – and, still very inept – Bartosz form a goofily ironic and highly unlikely duo out to avenge the killing of Donal’s mum.
There is one other wrinkle to this bloody good time of a movie – Bartosz’s sister is trapped in a prostitution ring run by the same people who killed Donal’s mother. That was the only reason Bartosz was there, at Donal’s farm, trying to kill him. He had no choice. Still, It’s an odd way to start up a partnership – what with all the “Sorry for trying to kill you, bud” stuff lurking in the air like the stink of a rotting animal carcass.
Though, by being a revenge movie, BDFTC is, automatically, very familiar, it, nevertheless, manages to break through and stand out.
Most of the credit for this belongs to Nigel O’Neill. As Donal, he is dead-on convincing as the hulking introverted man of blunt word and action. He looks the part – all grizzled, shaggy and rough around the edges. Add to that, O’Neill’s remarkable ability to communicate the ready-to-bust emotional tumult that must be tumbling around inside this perpetually lonely and grief-stricken man, and you have yourself a character an audience is eager to follow anywhere.
And, no surprise, Donal takes us to some ugly places. Along the way, we are “treated” to a trip behind the blood red curtain of an underworld organization. What we see is suitably awful and gruesome with plenty of blood decorating the floors and walls of various previously spotless interiors. We don’t pay cleaners near enough.
Though, in general, we know where the filmmakers are taking us, and can kind of guess the twist long before its unveiling, the interplay between Donal and Bartosz, the goofy little touches and the deft deployment of tension throughout, keep us enthralled and locked into the drama.
I especially appreciated all those steady, controlled camera set ups. It must have been tempting for the filmmakers to go full on, herky-jerky handheld for the duration. Instead, the numerous carefully composed long takes allow us to soak up the tension like a sponge.
For a change, BDFTC gives us a female heavy – a nasty disaster of a human being named Frankie Pierce. Ruthless as a hungry lion on a hunt, Frankie allows no one to get in between her eager chompers and the next delicious gazelle. She is rage made flesh and contained within a cute and curvy package. Turns out, she and Donal have more in common than either of them would’ve liked to have had. Of course they do.
One other nice touch is the inclusion of a brutal irony that only fully emerges as the film careens towards its stunning conclusion. What it reveals about Donal and about his campaign of “justified” terror is not exactly mind blowing but it does go a long way in making BDFTC a much more meaty flick than it would otherwise be.
Though, in some ways, BDFTC is just ticking the revenge film boxes, one by one, on its way to a predictably bloody conclusion, it distinguishes itself enough to make it worth your while.
As BDFTC shows, revenge – a dish best served cold – is, more accurately, a dish best not served at all.
