Review: New Irish road movie The Spin worth thumbing down

IT’S HARD to beat a good road movie. From Easy Rider, Two-Lane Blacktop and Vanishing Point, to Midnight Run, The Motorcycle Diaries and Little Miss Sunshine, this is a genre charged with adventure, elevated by ever-changing scenery and loaded with ample potential for dramatic shocks, comedic mishaps, existential musing and interpersonal bonding/bickering.

Olivia Colman’s 2022 vehicle, Joyride (not to be confused with the excellent 2001 horror thriller, Joy Ride, another road movie of sorts), proved that the road movie could work even in a country as small as Ireland: cheekily, the tag-line on the poster for new the Michael Head-directed Irish road flick The Spin actually points out that “you can walk it in a week” - though personally I wouldn’t be dying to put that to the test.

This charming, gently amusing, Colin Broderick (Emerald City, A Bend in The River) penned tale finds a couple of down on their luck Omagh music shop owners, Elvis (Owen Colgan) and Dermott (Brenock O’Connor), hitting the road on a Cork-bound quest to secure a ‘holy grail’ haul of valuable vintage vinyl in order to keep the wolf - comically malignant landlord Sadie (Tara Lynne O’Neill) - from Boneyard Records’ door.

These two small town dreamers are a pair of affable music-loving losers in the tradition of Bill & Ted. However, with their teenage years fast receding in the rear-view mirror, life is no longer about endless craic peppered with air guitar solos.

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With their teenage years fast receding in the rear-view mirror, life is no longer about endless craic peppered with air guitar solos

Elvis, the dopier of the duo, has daddy issues: his ex and their young daughter are now living under another man’s roof, and he’s worried about turning into a copy of his own deadbeat da.

Meanwhile, beneath his laid-back demeanour and cool vintage threads, Dermott has an edge to him that’s being gradually sharpened by a dawning realisation that he’s missed his shot as a professional musician.

With Boneyard Records now about to be shuttered, his appeal in the eyes of glamorous girlfriend Rose (Maura Higgins) is also fading fast.

The big question for both: is Boneyard Records still really their shared dream, or a millstone around their necks? They grapple with this throughout their near 600-mile round trip from Omagh to Cork in a vintage Vauxhall, during which we get to enjoy beautiful scenery and the passing company of a few extra passengers, including a farmer, a nun and a stripper (the latter played by former Pussycat Doll, Kimberly Wyatt).

Based upon a semi-autobiographical short story by Omagh music star Mark McCausland (The Lost Brothers, The Basement, McKowski), who provides its folksy soundtrack and cameos alongside fellow musicians of note Steve ‘Waterboys’ Wickham and Barry ‘Horslips’ Devlin, The Spin is fairly predictable fare.

However, it’s still a well made, easy-going ride-along that’s definitely worth thumbing down when in the mood for some whimsical, light-hearted fun.

Rating: 3/5