Cowboys & Angels

A civil servant gets more than he bargained for when he moves into an apartment with a gay fashion student.

Cowboys & Angels marks the feature film debut of David Gleeson and is set in Limerick city in Ireland. The movie sees Gleeson return to his roots as his writing debut, Class Control, was set in the same county as Cowboys & Angels . It is a coming of age tale about a shy civil servant who moves into a flat with a gay housemate, he is exposed to a brave new world and struggles to adapt before eventually finding his feet. The film tries to deal with various issues young people have to cope with such as drugs, sex, self-confidence and trying to fit in, but much like an awkward teenager there are times where it is hopelessly out of place. The cast are as inexperienced as the characters they play and as a result Cowboys & Angels comes off as a naïve piece of filmmaking that falls flat on its face.

The film stars Michael Legge as Shane and Allen Leech (credited as Alan Leech) as Vincent; they are two young Irish actors who have been previously been seen in bit parts on British television. The cast is made up mostly of other young actors but is bolstered by Frank Kelly (Father Ted) and David Murray (King Arthur, Veronica Guerin). The two lead characters find themselves living together after both struggle to find an apartment; the early scenes show us how they end up in the same flat as well as painting a picture of the contrast between the two individuals. The film mainly revolves around Shane who is unhappy with the path in life he has found himself on and is jealous of Vincent's outgoing lifestyle. Our protagonist finds himself trying to adapt to his new environment but he flounders haplessly after he tries to live up to some ideal image of himself. As a result his dreams start to slip by the wayside and he finds himself in an even worse situation than before, but as is such with all coming to age dramas Shane eventually sees the light and finds his true calling.

Overall there is a nice feeling to this film, it is well intended and makes for a good moral story but the fact remains that it is poorly executed and at times the script is spread too thinly for the filmmaker to achieve any of his objectives. For example the crux of Cowboys & Angels is the relationship between Shane and Vincent; both characters come from completely different worlds but end up learning something off each other. The interplay between the characters is the highlight of the film, the resulting chalk and cheese comedy never fails to disappoint but there are times where Gleeson would have been better off spending time building the relationship than focusing on Shane so much. It is a shame to say but the best thing to come out of this film is Limerick city, it is struggling to shrug off its nickname of Stab city but Cowboys & Angels goes some way of creating a nice image of the area. There are lots of beautiful shots of the city streets and the river Shannon interspersed with the scenes, the director was fortunate enough to get some good weather to show them off in their full glory. The pictorial scenes add to the tone of the movie, reflecting the overall positive message that runs throughout Cowboys & Angels .

Cowboys & Angels is the latest high profile Irish film to be released and it is accompanied by the usual exaggerated praise and hullabaloo, its unoriginality in points and weaknesses have been overlooked so that it will get a better chance at succeeding. This type of movie has been done a million times before and its inevitable conclusion can be seen a mile off, although the film only runs for a mere ninety minutes it seems to drag out for an eternity. The director has good intentions but the problem is that he has too many of them, as a result none of them are built sufficiently to warrant much praise. Shane's relationship with his love interest Gemma (Amy Shiels) and his mentor Jerry (Frank Kelly) are barely explored at all and Gleeson seems to expect us to fill in the dots. It is such a shame because his preference to deal with issues takes away from the subtle relationships that are brimming throughout the film. The director also seems happy to rehash all the usual gay jokes and stereotypes, Vincent just happens to be a fashion student and is obsessed with clothes, makeup and facial cleansers. Cowboys & Angels ' release is lucky enough to coincide with Queers Eye for the Straight Guy's sudden popularity otherwise it would be shown up.

My main criticism of this film is the acting, fair enough most of the cast are relatively young but Cowboys & Angels is borderline soap opera for the majority of the movie. Michael Legge (Shane) is probably best known for his role in Dream Team where he also played a naïve, young man. Well it seems that times don't change and neither does his acting ability, he may as well have been credited as Pinocchio because his scenes are so wooden. To be honest he isn't helped by Gleeson's directing and there are a few rather dubious shots where you have to ask yourself what exactly is going on. For example in one of the final scenes Legge seems to do an impression of Geoffrey Rush in Shine with his hands stretched out, basking in his own glory. It is completely out of place and overly sentimental, you'll be left either reaching for a sick bag or in stitches of laughter at the scene's ridiculousness. Legge's love interest Gemma, played by Amy Shiels, is just a pretty face and can only manage crying or smiling.

Thankfully the script doesn't require much of her but her on screen part-time job in Supermacs doesn't bode well for her because unless she drastically improves her career opportunities will probably be limited to fast food restaurants. Rather strangely Gleeson doesn't afford Frank Kelly more of a starring role in the movie, his character has a heavy influence on Shane but it is never really developed and instead is merely hashed together. Considering Kelly has more experience than most of the cast put together one has to wonder as to why Gleeson relegated him to such a small supporting role.

Piaras Kelly
Editor, Kikizo Movies