A Film with Me in It (2008) - 3/4

A Film with Me in It is pitched as the story of two men who write themselves into a screenplay in response to a series of unlikely tragic accidents. That's not really correct. A Film with Me in It is rather a slacker's wish fulfillment fantasy. But things have to get worse before they can get better.

A man named Mark (Mark Doherty, who also wrote the screenplay) lives in an apartment in desperate need of repairs. His best friend Pierce (Dylan Moran) lives upstairs. They're both slackers and they're writing a screenplay together. They bet on horses, get drinks, and generally don't get a whole lot done. Now Mark's girlfriend is moving out, his landlord is threatening him with eviction if he doesn't pay his rent, and he's left to take care of his paralyzed brother and dog on his own. Lucky for him the death-trap of an apartment begins dispatching the whole lot of them. It's like Repulsion as an Irish slacker comedy.

The first twenty minutes are familiar to any slacker: the people to whom responsibilities are owed become increasingly dismayed with the slacker's irresponsibility and eventually give up on him. Wouldn't it be great if there were a reset button on life? The Fates basically push that button for Mark as sheer accident intervenes to wipe out every responsibility in his life. The end, which I won't reveal, is perfect: Mark has become the ultimate slacker, and he's finally happy.

A Film with Me in It is certainly a black comedy, albeit a hit and miss one. I found myself laughing at a good many of the places I was supposed to laugh, but not all of them. Some of the humour just doesn't work. That's unfortunate. Dylan Moran is easily one of the ten greatest living standup comedians and a talented actor; there is enough of the Dylan Moran persona in Pierce to keep fans like me happy, but he's not used to his fullest here.

The angle of the screenplay does come up occasionally, but more as a crutch for the brainstorming. The accidents are, of course, preposterous: no-one would believe such a thing! So a cover-up story is necessary. These men just happen to be aspiring filmmakers. That writer Mark Doherty plays a man named Mark who writes a screenplay about a man named Mark adds an amusing layer to the film-in-a-film motif. One wonders if anything like this happened to the real Mark Doherty. I'll be keen on viewing any future Mark Doherty-written films. Hopefully he won't have to resort to murder to get it done.