cowboysandangels

SYNOPSIS - COWBOYS & ANGELS
This charming Irish coming-of-age tale
follows two best friends – one straight,
one gay – from their youthful career
ambitions to their entanglements with
the law.

REVIEW

David Gleeson's genial comedy-drama
unfolds around Shane (Michael
Legge), a shy young twentysomething
who is just striking out on his own. He's
frightfully unhappy in his dead-end job
as a civil servant -- a feeling
repeatedly driven home by his
disillusioned, nearly retired coworker,
Jerry (Frank Kelly). A talented
illustrator, Shane is desperate to
attend art school but lacks the
necessary funds. After a humorous
apartment hunt (who knew there were
so many young people flocking to
Limerick?) Shane finally finds a flat to
share with a gay fashion design
student, Vincent (Allen Leech). Before
you can say "Queer Eye for the
Straight Guy," Vincent is pulling the
bashful Shane out of his shell and
sending him down the road to fabulous.

Of course, there are going to be
bumps along the way as Shane, after
taking his first shaky steps on the road
to personal makeover, takes a
disastrous turn into the world of drug
running and falls for Vincent's best
friend Gemma (the luminous Amy
Shiels). Legge and Leech both deliver
affable, bright-eyed performances and
have a marvelous chemistry as the
initially mismatched roomies. First-time
director Gleeson draws on their gay
boy/straight boy camaraderie to
fashion a coming-of-age story that is
refreshing, good-natured and witty.
Along the way Gleeson also manages
to paint a picture of contemporary
Limerick as a bustling, cosmopolitan
arts center. Move over Dublin!
Eric Moore