Helmer Doherty cleverly doles out information about Jimmy’s shameful past in the form of flashbacks in a 16mm format that reveal his wrongdoings. Back then, he departed in disgrace, leaving behind younger brother Damien (Kieran Roche), a brutal father who raised them with his fists (Hugh O’Brien) and embittered, onetime girlfriend Patricia (Liz Fitzgibbon). It’s been seven years since Jimmy Cullen (Aaron Monaghan) set foot in (the fictional) Ballylough, a godforsaken spot of near-perpetual rain. And he orchestrates the whole confection as a sort of blues opera, with on-screen musical artists providing beguiling songs that comment on the action. Certainly, Doherty displays winning confidence, visual imagination and stylistic bravura as he elevates a witty but foul-mouthed village comedy into something more provocative and universal.
Based on this ambitious, sardonic feature debut, writer-director Philip Doherty (who is also a playwright and theater director) scores as a promising talent, one who might be the spiritual heir of Anglo-Irish filmmaking brothers Martin and John Michael McDonagh or even the Coen brothers. The exhilarating, Bible-inspired, pitch-black comedy “ Redemption of a Rogue” centers on a prodigal son returning to his rural Ireland hometown to seek redemption for his sins.
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