Kneecap

Directed by Rich Peppiatt, Kneecap follows an Irish teacher (and aspiring music producer) (JJ Ó Dochartaigh) as he agrees to help two aimless twentysomethings (Liam Ó Hannaidh and Naoise Ó Cairealláin) become bona fide hip-hop performers. Filmmaker Peppiatt, armed with his own screenplay, admittedly does a terrific job of immediately capturing the viewer’s interest and attention, as Kneecap kicks off with a propulsive, engrossing opening stretch that effectively establishes the central characters and the politically-charged environment in which they reside – with the flashy atmosphere effectively compensating for the less-than-professional efforts of the movie’s three stars. There’s little doubt, then, that Kneecap‘s compelling vibe is slowly-but-surely diminished by a wheel-spinning and distressingly repetitive midsection (eg the heroes spend a lot of time getting high and performing their songs), and it’s clear, too, that the growing emphasis on tiresome melodramatic elements (eg so many fake break-ups) ensures that the film peters out long before it arrives at its triumphant finale – which does, in the end, confirm the picture’s place as a well-intentioned misfire that would’ve been far better off as a short.

** out of ****