Director: Ian Fitzgibbon
Starring: Mark Doherty, Dylan Moran, Amy Huberman, David Doherty, Keith Allen
In Cinemas: 23 April 2009

The gleeful Irish black comedy A Film With Me In It revolves around the unfortunate circumstances a pair of no-hopers endure on one really, really bad day. Writer Mark Doherty stars as Mark, an unemployed actor living in a veritable hell – his rundown apartment is on its last legs and his weary and fed up girlfriend (Huberman) is moving out.

When a freak accident occurs that renders Mark’s haphazard apartment a crime scene, he calls on the help of his best friend/neighbour/resident alcoholic/writer-director, Pierce (Moran). Pierce has been struggling with the script for his next movie, set to star Mark – once they figure out what its about.

In an attempt to stay one step ahead of Mark’s short-changed landlord, Pierce offers that they construct a script about a crime that goes horribly wrong. And in true black comedic style, the disasters start to unravel, the body count rises and life begins to imitate art much to their detriment.

In terms of performances, Doherty and Moran are superb actors. Doherty has the long, mournful face and a prime comic persona. Moran, of course, assumes the role of the arrogant, drunken, mumbling doofus he has perfected (or is). To be picky, as a duo Moran and Doherty lack a certain element of urgency considering the bizarre situations their characters are facing, but director Fitzgibbon has obviously recognised this and attempted to quicken the pace of certain scenes.

A Film With Me In It sells itself on its depth of dark humour and smorgasboard of genuinely funny predicaments. The screenplay has been economically crafted by Doherty to establish the characters well before the real calamity strikes, making each and every folly more hilarious than the last.