The Irish drama “Eden” sets you up for a sucker punch right on the DVD packaging.
“From the producers of “Once,” the DVD jacket cries, but there’s precious little connecting that 2007 gem with this agonizing romance gone sour.
The Irish film, released earlier this year stateside on DVD, follow a married couple nearing their 10th anniversary. But the chances of them toasting an 11th year of matrimony appear grim.
The husband’s seven-year itch feels like a raging case of Poison Ivy.
Eileen Walsh is Breda, a frustrated housewife grappling with a few extra pounds and a serious lack of sexual friction with her husband, Billy (Aidan Kelly). She’s dieting and sewing sexy new dresses to catch his eye, but he’s distracted by the comely brunette who hangs out with him at the local pub.
The couple’s 10th anniversary is right around the corner, which Breda sees as the perfect chance to refresh their stale marriage. But Billy appears far less interested in rekindling their passion.
“Eden” couldn’t be any simpler to diagram, but the film’s stark lead performances fill in all the necessary blanks. Give credit to the realistic casting. Walsh’s toothy grin makes her anything but conventionally beautiful, and Kelly’s ruddy face and retreating hairline practically cements his “everyman” status.
Adapted from his own play by Eugene O’Brien, “Eden” draws out their marital disconnect in small, satisfying ways, the kind that even happily married couples might recognize with some alarm. And the quietly beautiful cinematography plays counterpoint to the dramatic meltdown, a series of visually gorgeous sequences offering a start contrast to the dark spell surrounding the couple in question.
“Eden” clocks in at a brisk 83 minutes but never feels malnourished. Only the final critical embrace between the leads could use some meat, since it doesn’t seem to stem from the same movie we just finished watching.
(Photo: Eileen Walsh and Aidan Kelly play a married couple drifting apart in “Eden,” from the producers of the Irish film “Once.” Liberation Home Entertainment)
Related posts:
on 
on 
on 
on 
