Trojan Eddie
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: D Film: B-
Stephen Rea is the title character in Trojan Eddie
(1996), an expert huckster who wants to go off on his own into more
huckstering, no matter how ethically questionable, but he has to contend with
John Power (a still-vital Richard Harris) who is the boss of a poor section of
Ireland. However, he is still a big
fish in a small pond and Eddie hopes that however dangerous, he can break away. It does not help when one of his crew goes
for Power’s love object, Kathleen (the beautiful and acting-capable Aislin
McGuckin).
Needless to say, this complicates matters. Power intends to marry her, but his crewman
Dermot (Stuart Townsend) tries to convince her that all she is is a
transference and replacement for his late wife. Eddie may be underestimating his mate as well. This all makes for a sometimes uneven, but
believable tale that is not as predictable as the situation would usually
offer. Billy Roche’s screenplay and
Gillies MacKinnon’s directing is a smart combination and makes me want to see
more of their work. They really luck
out with a solid cast who delivers as this British/Irish production continues
to grow an identity for Irish filmmaking.
The full screen color image is off a bit with some grain
or slight black of focus, but the color is not bad. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has some Pro Logic surround
information and was released as a 5.1 Dolby Digital theatrical release. It also had SR (Spectral Recording) encoding
on the optical analog tracks, which is where this sound seems to have come
from. Too bad this was not 5.1 or even
DTS, as I like the recording of the dialogue-based audio. There are no extras, but the ending is
clever and that alone is enough to see Trojan Eddie.
- Nicholas Sheffo
