The Van (1996)

Director:

Stephen Frears

Writers:

Roddy Doyle (novel)
Roddy Doyle (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 May 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

A large portion of life...

Plot:

The third installment of Irish author Roddy Doyle's 'Barrytown Trilogy' depicts the hilarious yet poignant adventures of Bimbo...

Plot Keywords:

Van | Fish | Friendship | Business | Irish

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Colm Meaney	...	Larry
Donal O'Kelly	...	Bimbo
Ger Ryan	...	Maggie
Caroline Rothwell	...	Mary
Neilí Conroy	...	Diane
Rúaidhrí Conroy	...	Kevin
Brendan O'Carroll	...	Weslie
Stuart Dunne	...	Sam
Jack Lynch	...	Cancer
Laurie Morton	...	Maggie's Mum
Marie Mullen	...	Vera
Jon Kenny	...	Gerry McCarthy
Moses Rowen	...	Glenn
Linda McGovern	...	Jessica
Eoin Chaney	...	Wayne

Also Known As:

A Carrinha (Portugal) [pt]
A Van (Brazil) [pt]
Chômage oblige (Canada: French title) (TV title) [fr]
Due sulla strada (Italy) [it]
Due sulla strada - The van (Italy) [it]
Fish & Chips (Germany) [de]
Karavan (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
La camioneta (The Van) (Spain) [es]
Larryn grilli (Finland) [fi]
Skåpvagnen (Sweden) [sv]
The Van (France) [fr]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK | Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-7 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Germany:6 (bw) | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:7 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Ardmore Studios - Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Beacon Communications

Trivia:

This is the third story in Roddy Doyle's "Barrytown Trilogy", following the adventures of the Rabbitte family. However, as 20th Century Fox owned the film rights to the Rabbitte name (from The Commitments), the characters had to be re-named in the subsequent film adaptations (The Snapper, The Van).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Larry sings the lyrics to 'Living Next Door To Alice' in a scene in the film. However after singing he adds the phrase 'Alice? Who the fuck is Alice?', referring to the popular re-release version featuring comedian Roy 'Chubby' Brown. However this version wasn't released until 1995, with the film being set in 1989.

Quotes:

Maggie: Do heavy metalers eat chips?

Movie Connections:

Spoofs "The Waltons" (1972)

Soundtrack:

Here We Go, Here We Go

Fantastic Irish Comedy!

YES, it's a european movie...thank God! What I like best in this movie is that it doesn't take place in that clean "US-environment" with all those actors, who look like super-models. It's a real life story with people, who could be just your neighbours, which adds even more to the realism. They're all so emotional, so funny, so "average" looking, so...real! You can't help but love them after just a few minutes! In addition, this film is very very funny, the plot is good and offers occasions for a lot of funny situations, although I think you just have to like this kind of humour. Like I said, this is a very "real" film and so are the jokes. Just imagine you'd be a tourist in that small town somewhere in Ireland and you watch all those funny and odd people there. Sounds boring? Well, I didn't think so! Of course, it's also well shot. It looks different from a US Film (not a crime...yet) and maybe not too expensive, but hey, do you really need a lot of money to make a good comedy? ;)

There really should be more of these films. If you liked "Waking Ned", "The Full Monty" and "Brassed Off", you're gonna love this one.