Route Irish – review

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Route Irish is the latest film by well-respected, often political British director Ken Loach and his regular collaborator, screenwriter Paul Laverty. Following the success of the quirky Looking for Eric, Loach has reverted back to gritty realism with this tale of the obsession of one man’s need for justice.

Interspersing warzone flashback action, unravelling complicity and scenes of honourable dedication to a cause, the film keeps the viewer gripped tightly to the main character’s personal rollercoaster throughout as the pace of the action reflects the heartbeat of the pulsating script.

Starring TV drama regulars Andrea Lowe and Mark Womack, plus stand-up comedian John Bishop, this Liverpool-set picture tells the story of an ex-soldier and private security contractor Fergus [Womack] trying to add substance to his suspicions about the death of his friend Frankie [Bishop]. Frankie was blown up in Baghdad’s notorious road of the film’s name and as Fergus’ suspicion intensifies, dark truths are disclosed and doubt is cast over the integrity of the agency he used to work for.

Amongst this suggested corruption after the controversial Iraq war, is romantic entanglement between Fergus and Frankie’s girlfriend, Rachel [Lowe] – the source of which becomes confused between love and honour for a friend held as close as a brother. Emotions run high as Fergus’ self-imposed mission leaves him teetering on the brink of self-destruction.

Frankie and Fergus were contractors for the agency and as conspiracy begins to become unearthed, we learn that Fergus came home to his solitary Merseyside retreat from Iraq because he could not handle the pressure on his conscience from the lengths they were required to go to in order to extract information. Frankie had stayed out in the tumultuous Iraqi capital despite similar strong concerns about the legitimacy of some of the missions and actions.

Having got hold of a mobile phone containing sensitive material, Fergus finds an Iraqi musician to help translate, decipher and extract everything from the phone’s memory. Amongst the content is a video taken by the victim of a shooting, which seems to suggest wrongful killing of some locals in a taxi by a hot-headed member of Frankie’s team, due to unjustified assumptions of their terrorist threat, wrongly concluding that the aforementioned mobile (in the hands of a passenger) was an explosive’s remote trigger.

The agency and this heavy-handed contractor, Nelson [Trevor Williams], soon get wind of Fergus’ digging, and neither party want this material to be in the his possession, knowing what is at stake if it got into the police’s hands or the public domain. They want the issue quashed, but Fergus is more interested in the role this incident might have played in Frankie’s death than the incident itself and is frighteningly focused on getting to the truth.

Womack is extremely convincing as the unwavering Fergus, using Pacino-like raucous aggression to portray the notion that he is willing to sweat blood for justice for his friend, who he admits in a passionate scene shared everything, except for Rachel. However, beyond this standout performance, the rest for the cast are all compelling and there are several moments of genuine shock and moving scenes, including a disturbing water-torture scene interrogation and a stunning emotional climax. Route Irish is an enthralling ride which deals with the ideas of truth, guilt, honour and duty and packs a thought-provoking punch.

Route Irish (15)
Directed by Ken Loach
Starring: Mark Womack, Andrea Lowe, John Bishop, Geoff Bell, Trevor Williams.
Running time: 109 minutes

Route Irish is now showing at the Rio Cinema until Thursday 31 March.