Good Word, The (Short)
Gareth Jones
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Starring Paul Kennedy, Conleth Hill, Una Kavanagh
Directed by Stuart Graham
It’s the 1950s in Antrim, Northern Ireland, and Ivan Cutler (Kennedy), with a bible resting on his chest, wakes up in bed next to a corpse.
And he’s quite happy about that.
As Ivan sets about shaving his face and putting together his very well-to-do appearance, it becomes obvious that he has, in fact, murdered a couple in their home and then spent the night there. Robbing them of all of their money, he then sets off on the road, traversing the beautiful Irish countryside before stopping off at a rural farmstead.
Here he’s greeted by Ma Taggart (Kavanagh), wife of farmer and butcher Da (Hill). With Da currently preoccupied in the shed, Cutler introduces himself to Ma as a missionary spreading the word of the Lord. Invited in for tea, Cutler sits down to talk life, faith and family with the inquisitive homemaker – but things take a more confrontational turn when Da arrives back from the shed.
And Ivan will soon find out that his latest marks have some deadly secrets of their own.
Throughout its 20-minute runtime, The Good Word finds itself predominantly a display of formidable performances from the cast. Paul Kennedy makes for an outwardly suave, but convincingly dangerous, individual – a smarmy murderer who, unbeknownst to him, is in far over his head even before his aggressive nature is forced to reveal itself. Hill and Kavanagh match him admirably with their naturalistic performances – especially on Hill’s behalf as the friendly-yet-imposing Da. There’s a consistent thread of dark comedy throughout the short, most of which is placed in Kavanagh’s capable hands – her timing and delivery elevating the laughs when it comes to a proclaimed distrust of electricity, and a dash of old-fashioned Irish racism.
Director Graham takes a minimalist approach, with the majority of the proceedings taking place within the Taggarts’ kitchen. Even so, it would appear that every single penny put into this production has made it to the screen, with crisp cinematography and a real period feel generated by some excellent production design and costuming.
On the down side, the basic premise of The Good Word is nothing that we haven’t seen before many a time.
Anyone with a basic familiarity with the genre, especially in short form, will know exactly where it’s going the moment Ivan sets foot in the farmhouse. Still, this is ably overshadowed by the production quality, performances and snappy script. Perhaps the biggest challenge that Graham’s film may face on the wider festival circuit are the very Northern Irish accents and idiosyncrasies, which can be difficult to grasp for those unfamiliar with them. This may leave some of the sparkling humour flying outside of some audiences’ radars, but should play very well to the home crowd.
For me, though? The Good Word does indeed feel like home – and it’s very, very good.
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Film
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