6451 didn’t get into “Jahrgang 45” (good for him, in the end) so Loris kindly gave him his ticket for “You’re ugly too”. He figured we were going to go to see an opera and another movie later that day anyways, which is already a lot for one day. So in the end, another ‘tradition’ continued: I went to the premiere of an Irish film in the Zoopalast and, most surprisingly, got an autograph from the actor of the protagonist. Last year it was Brendan Gleeson, this year it was Aidan Gillen. Just like last year, he was sitting there in front and I just went and asked. Since I was reading “Dead Souls” on my tablet, I did not carry a book with me, but ever since Pip gave me a bunch of notebooks, I always have one with me which came in handy today. Yay! Also, they are doing something with Aidan Gillen’s face. He always plays these rugged, wrinkly characters (“You’re ugly too” is no different) that I was shocked when I stood in front of him. I honestly wondered whether I got the right person because his face was so young and smooth looking, like he’s a 25 year old with gray hair. I was baffled.
You’re ugly too
Ireland 2014, Mark Noonan, 81′
Stacey is your average 12 year old – kind of pretty, foul-mouthed, sarcastic and a bit of a know-it-all. When she becomes an orphan, her uncle Will gets let out of prison to take care of her. At first, they don’t make a good match. She is suspicious of him and his unwillingness to tell her why he went to prison, and he lives a somewhat shitty life in a trailer park. He has alcohol and drug problems, has trouble finding a job and it’s not easy for him to approach Stacey’s cynical character. They befriend a neighboring family and Will and the wife fall in love. But then Stacey finds out what Will did, and after she runs away, Will’s ability to take care of Stacey is being doubted by the authorities.
To be honest, there is not much to say about the film. It easily reminded me of St. Vincent because you also have a child and an older guy who on the surface seems like a butt but actually is a good person. Thankfully there are a bunch of differences: Stacey is less normal (much more funny and cynical, but also more complicated) and Will is not just some grumpy old dude. On the one hand, he has actual issues, on the other hand, he genuinely loves Stacey. This makes for more genuine human interaction, and while I didn’t always think it was believable how they became closer (there was way more on that with Will and that neighbor), I think they had a lot of great chemistry together. It was ultimately a very funny, enjoyable film.
They had a Q&A afterwards and the kids asked some amazing questions. “Do they get married at the end?” (referring to Will and said neighbor) was one of these. Noonan kept the ending deliberately vague, and you don’t know if Will and Stacey end up living together or not. The kids voiced that their optimism about that, Mark Noonan was vague in his answer but Aidan Gillen (haha) pretty much shot them off and said that he thinks the main character has too many alcohol and drug and depression issues to take care of Stacey and she knows that. Oh it’s so like Aidan Gillen to prefer gloomy characters, but personally I thought that the family bond between the two came through at the end. They may not be able to live together, but there is love. Another question I really liked was: “How did you come up with the idea for the movie?” Noonan said he was chatting with Aidan Gillen’s mom who complained about he’s always evil and his films are always so serious and wanted to see him in a comedy. So here we are, a role basically written for Littlefinger.
With that said, it was Lauren Kinsella’s birthday (coincidence or was the birthday actually 3 days ago?) and I was impressed by how proper she looked and spoke. She is totally a professional and very good with the media, so she is probably actually a very good actress.