Intermission

John Crowley’s directorial debut features an Altmanesque swirl of Dublin characters in fast-paced interlocking stories. A lot of familiar if not yet famous faces help keep the merry-go-round turning. A thankfully pre-Alexander Colin Farrell is a punk villain. Cillian Murphy is a superstore clerk who has made the unforgivable mistake of breaking up with Kelly Macdonald. Shirley Henderson is her heartbroken, mustachioed sister. Colm Meany is a tough cop who fancies himself a Dirty Harry, despite a musical taste for Clannad. There’s robberies and assault, vehicular mayhem and gunplay, but this is basically an astringent romantic comedy, much better than the usual run of wacky capers from the British Isles. (2003, dvd, n.) *7* (MC-64, RT-73.)