Parallels with 2003’s The Station Agent are obvious in this touching Irish drama, but unlike Peter Dinklage’s surly outcast, Pat Shortt’s limited Josie would like nothing better than to venture away from his isolated garage to have some kind of intimacy.
Having found popularity among the teen drinkers of the village for buying them booze, he comes a cropper when he makes a silly mistake with his only real friend (Ryan), an emo teen who comes to work at the garage at weekends and clumsily makes a pass at the pretty shopkeeper (Duff).
The awkward metaphor that ends the film undermines much of the good work done by the cast’s subtlety and poise.