ADAM & PAUL wowing the critics ahead of its UK release in cinemas
Lenny Abrahamson’s award-winning debut feature ADAM & PAUL, goes on release in UK cinemas from today and is proving a knockout with the UK critics.Major UK newspapers such as The Times, The Independent , The Express and The Mail awarded the film with glowing reviews.
The Telegraph gave it an astounding thumbs up, " Adam & Paul is an Irish film to make most English ones look like quaint rot. It's the strongest, funniest, most despairing drug-themed movie ... since Danny Boyle's Trainspotting. .... O'Halloran wrote the screenplay, which has a numb circularity that's just perfect. But it's Murphy's face - slow, vulnerable, painfully lovable - which really gets to you: this has got to be one of the performances of the year. I've hardly had room to describe how casually funny the film is too. You're just going to have to see it. "
BBC2's THE CULTURE SHOW chose ADAM & PAUL as film hightlight of the week and hailed it as a ‘real gem’.
In addition, UK film magazines such as Sight and Sound, Time Out, Uncut have heaped praise on ADAM & PAUL .
Uncut magazine calling it"Astoundingly assured and bleakly comic debut” and paying tribute to the “subtle genius of the movie”.
The film, which is being distributed by Guerilla Films, opens in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham and other selected venues from today.
“For a small Irish film to get such amazing reviews from the UK critics is a testament to the talent of everybody involved with ADAM & PAUL”, said Irish Film Board’s Head of Marketing, Moira Horgan.
ADAM & PAUL was a box office hit in Ireland when released by Abbey Fims last year and to date has scooped a number of awards including Best Film at the Galway Film Fleadh and Best Director at the 2004 Irish Film and Television Awards. ADAM & PAUL also screened to critical acclaim in the Panorama section of the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival and won both the Best Film Prize and Critics award at the Sofia International Film Festival in March.
Directed by Lenny Abrahamson, ADAM & PAUL was written by Ireland's SHOOTING STAR Mark O'Halloran who also stars in the film alongside Tom Murphy. ADAM & PAUL is a Speers and Element Films Production and is produced by Jonny Speers with Executive Producers Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe. International sales are being handled by Moviehouse Entertainment. The film was co-financed by the Irish Film Board, Xtravision and RTE.