Garage

Director: Leonard Abrahamson
Cast: Pat Shortt, Conor Ryan

An unassuming film that came out at Cannes and has no release date in Australia as yet, the shorts promised me that Garage would be the IrishKenny, with a petrol station substituting for a portaloo convention.

And there are certainly elements of this: Josie (Shortt) is a steady, craic-loving, heart-of-gold, small-town bowser attendant who prides himself on giving the punters ‘valet service’ when he fills their tanks, and whose idea of growing the business extends to putting a stand of Castrol oils out the front of the shop.

The laughs come pretty regularly for the first hour or so, with quietly hilarious dialogue and a masterful physical performance from Shortt. He’s ably supported by Ryan, playing David, Josie’s slightly awkward young off-sider.

As we watch Josie and David’s relationship blossom, we delight to see Josie’s crescent confidence bleed out into other areas of his life, and we’re all set for a feel-good ending.

What we get, however, is a disturbing and haunting wrong-footing — the kind of thing that is ultimately more satisfying than the sentimentalism of films like The Full Monty or Billy Elliot, even if it ends up being far less bankable.