Although the majority of the characters who populate John Crowley's Irish ensemble dramedy INTERMISSION are well past their teenage years, there's something in the film's grainy charm that reeks of adolescence. It's well-meaning and undeniably energetic -- both fistfights and love scenes can be found in abundance -- but it's also unsure of itself, fitfully sputtering and tonally jagged. The material is raw and unaffected, but it lacks the grace and complexity of a more adult construction. It is, in essence, the promise of a great ensemble film...that still needs a few years to grow into its potential.

But that's not to say that INTERMISSION doesn't have its pleasures; just that it doesn't have much profound to say about them. As the punk-rock younger sibling of Richard Curtis' recent comedy LOVE ACTUALLY, Crowley's film features over a dozen lead characters that, in one form or another, are all exploring love and its endlessly confounding variations. As the characters venture forth into the big, bad world of mature relationships, however, Crowley and his screenwriter, Mark O'Rowe, simply don't find much of consequence in the character's quirky experiences. The almost-too-cleverly intertwining storylines include John (28 Days Later's Cillian Murphy), still pining over his recent breakup with Deirdre (Kelly MacDonald), who's now dating (gasp!) a balding thirtysomething banker (Michael McElhatton). Unbeknownst to him, his best friend Oscar (David Wilmot) is now dating the banker's ex-wife (Dierdre O'Kane). A plan hatched by bad-boy Lehiff (Colin Farrell) to rob the banker's bank gives John a shot at retribution...but Lehiff's got his own problems, especially with his nemesis, the hard-boiled cop Jerry (Colm Meaney), who sees himself, literally, as the star of his own movie.

Circular plots are common in these romantic mobius-strip movies, but the filmmakers tend to lose themselves in the details, losing sight of larger thematic concerns. What are we to make of an ostensibly serious love story that includes one partner kidnapping the other? How are we to respond to an episode of lovemaking that features a woman who can't stop punching her lover in the jaw? These might work as madcap moments in broad farce, but presented as slice-of-life vignettes, they simply seem overbaked. INTERMISSION flirts with zany comedy and serious drama, often in the same scene...which is admirable in its scope but merely unsettling in its presentation. To pepper what is essentially a comedy with darker, biting moments is rare in these days of genre-defined filmmaking. Such dexterity requires, perhaps, a more accomplished (or at least more experienced) creative team at the helm; such transitions are delicate and deft sleights-of-hand. When we are clearly supposed to guffaw with laughter, INTERMISSION only delivers mild chuckles. When we are supposed to feel the characters' inner turmoil, the film often anesthetizes any real emotion we may connect with.

Rowe's screenplay isn't short of imagination, however, especially when it comes to presentations of everyday Irish life. There are wholly original takes on the dating scene (especially when trying to find your own personal Mrs. Robinson), and a television crew's failed attempt to capture the nail-biting tension of a rabbit race wittily encapsulates the media's infatuation with soft news. There simply aren't enough of these moments, however, to keep the film on an even keel. It's very easy, in fact, for the film to topple when it encounters a force larger than its own story. The one bona-fide star of INTERMISSION, Colin Farrell (Minority Report, S.W.A.T.), deserves kudos for trying to blend into the crowd of major characters, but as the villainous Lehiff, his fiery persona stands out as both the most distracting and most magnetic performance. To take nothing away from the amiable Murphy or the stalwart, dependable character actors Meaney and Brian F. O'Byrne (as a fired bus driver who figures into the plot), but Farrell exudes a celluloid-friendly sheen that the camera is unable to ignore. In a barnburning opening scene, Farrell sweet-talks a hopelessly enamored waitress, and you can feel the audience succumbing to his good looks and star power right along with her.

Once comes away from INTERMISSION having enjoyed parts of it, but with a dissembled sense of its qualities. Lumpy and misshapen, it's more of a wax-paper tracing of a romantic comedy than the real thing. Fans of Colin Farrell and Irish brogues may find themselves in seventh heaven, but most will wonder if the film in question will feature its title...as a means of possible escape.

-- Gabriel Shanks