John Carney and Kieran Carney will be familiar to alot of people, as will Simon Delaney. Bachelors Walk connects them all, from a writing, directing and starring roles, respectively. So, it’s probably no surprise to see them all team up for Zonad.
Ballymoran is a small, quiet diddle dee village in the backwater’s of Ireland. Most of it’s residents are simple, god fearing folk. I say most because the school girls are straight out of a copy of FHM. Zonad arrives in Ballymoran and “crash” lands into the Cassidy household. The Cassidy family, just back from a comet viewing are convinced Zonad is an alien and go about making him feel welcome, as do the rest of the village. From free “black beer” to an assortment of ladies who are all trying to get a little bit of Zonad love, Zonad is treated like an inter galactic King. That is until Bonad arrives and claims that Zonad’s mission on Earth is over. Zonad, teams up with some local’s and sets about dethroning Bonad and his reign over Ballymoran and it’s FHM owned school. There’s a bit more to it than that, but I don’t want to delve into spoiler territory, even as small as a spoiler as it is!
Simon Delaney squeezed into a wonderful, ball de-enhancing red PVC outfit. How he managed to move, let alone put in a wonderfully funny performance here is beyond me. His pseudo, Americano accent is great and not over done. His timing and screen presence is second to none here, and if truth be told, he is very convincing as an “intergalactic visitor”. He’s got alot of balls to throw himself into this movie, and it shows. The words “No shame” comes to mind, time and time again.
The rest of the cast here are also convincing as slightly backward, naive and incredibly sexy village inhabitants. And the village itself, well it’s the wet dreams of American tourists.
Zonad is a refreshing change for an Irish film. Don’t get me wrong, all the crime movie’s that have been born here are great and testament to great writing, directors and actors. But Zonad, is an Irish screwball comedy and we don’t get too many of them.
Yes, it’s terribly cheesy. Yes, at times it feels like an old B-Movie. Yes, some of the American accents are OTT and Yes, it’s got its fair share of impressive breasts, although none make a entirely full appearance unfortunately. Zonad has some brilliantly conceived idea’s which will have you choking on the popcorn. In particular, any of the scenes with the Garda, are fantastically funny. Equally funny is the writing in Zonad. “It’s like a penis…only smaller” will live in my mind for some time to come! As for the pacing, not once are you left waiting around, as the laughs come at you one after the other. It’s hard to say anything bad about Zonad. It does exactly what it says on the tin, and the good thing here is that it never tries to be anything more or bigger than what it is. It doesn’t have any hidden messages or subtext, bar that red PVC suits aren’t great for Testicular enhancement. This is a honest movie!
All in all, Zonad hits the right notes and while it’s miles removed from the Americanised screwball comedies that you might be conditioned to, Zonad is a laugh out loud movie that may cause a little bit of wee to come out. It will certainly put a smile or ten on even the most harden faces! A triumph for the Irish film industry!
To hear my interview with Simon Delaney (Zonad) subscribe to the Movie Bit podcast on iTunes.
Ballymoran is a small, quiet diddle dee village in the backwater’s of Ireland. Most of it’s residents are simple, god fearing folk. I say most because the school girls are straight out of a copy of FHM. Zonad arrives in Ballymoran and “crash” lands into the Cassidy household. The Cassidy family, just back from a comet viewing are convinced Zonad is an alien and go about making him feel welcome, as do the rest of the village. From free “black beer” to an assortment of ladies who are all trying to get a little bit of Zonad love, Zonad is treated like an inter galactic King. That is until Bonad arrives and claims that Zonad’s mission on Earth is over. Zonad, teams up with some local’s and sets about dethroning Bonad and his reign over Ballymoran and it’s FHM owned school. There’s a bit more to it than that, but I don’t want to delve into spoiler territory, even as small as a spoiler as it is!
Simon Delaney squeezed into a wonderful, ball de-enhancing red PVC outfit. How he managed to move, let alone put in a wonderfully funny performance here is beyond me. His pseudo, Americano accent is great and not over done. His timing and screen presence is second to none here, and if truth be told, he is very convincing as an “intergalactic visitor”. He’s got alot of balls to throw himself into this movie, and it shows. The words “No shame” comes to mind, time and time again.
The rest of the cast here are also convincing as slightly backward, naive and incredibly sexy village inhabitants. And the village itself, well it’s the wet dreams of American tourists.
Zonad is a refreshing change for an Irish film. Don’t get me wrong, all the crime movie’s that have been born here are great and testament to great writing, directors and actors. But Zonad, is an Irish screwball comedy and we don’t get too many of them.
Yes, it’s terribly cheesy. Yes, at times it feels like an old B-Movie. Yes, some of the American accents are OTT and Yes, it’s got its fair share of impressive breasts, although none make a entirely full appearance unfortunately. Zonad has some brilliantly conceived idea’s which will have you choking on the popcorn. In particular, any of the scenes with the Garda, are fantastically funny. Equally funny is the writing in Zonad. “It’s like a penis…only smaller” will live in my mind for some time to come! As for the pacing, not once are you left waiting around, as the laughs come at you one after the other. It’s hard to say anything bad about Zonad. It does exactly what it says on the tin, and the good thing here is that it never tries to be anything more or bigger than what it is. It doesn’t have any hidden messages or subtext, bar that red PVC suits aren’t great for Testicular enhancement. This is a honest movie!
All in all, Zonad hits the right notes and while it’s miles removed from the Americanised screwball comedies that you might be conditioned to, Zonad is a laugh out loud movie that may cause a little bit of wee to come out. It will certainly put a smile or ten on even the most harden faces! A triumph for the Irish film industry!
