Behold the state of the Irish male. Brendan Grant attempts to capture the unique idiocy of the twenty-something Irish lad with his new comedy-drama Get Up And Go. Mismatched pair Coilin (Killian Scott) and Alex (Peter Coonan) are roommates living on the outskirts of Dublin city. After Alex finds out his girlfriend is pregnant, he spontaneously decides now is the time to move to London. From there, the duo travel around Dublin in search of money to set themselves up abroad.
They travel from pub to club to coffee shop but the unavoidable problem with the film lies not in its loose structure, but with its dual protagonists. Grant has written two unlikeable men in Coilin and Alex. Coilin’s attraction to Lola (Devereaux) verges on the creepy side while Alex’s often sociopathic behaviour is baffling. Even if Grant was attempting to show a critique of a kind of apathetic hipster persona he has totally, bemusingly misfired.
Words: Stephen McCabe
