Standby (2014)

This is a no effort-required Irish romantic comedy about a man who, finds himself working with his mother for the Irish tourist board at the information desk at Dublin airport. A girl from his 8 years past, arrives at the airport stranded for the night, waiting the next flight to the USA (hence the title reference she is on standby).

Naturally this could have been the one that got away, but he didn’t have the courage to go and chase her down. So this is his second chance.

I did expect a lot more from this outing. I was excited when it was recommended to me from a few other movies in the same genre. I had not heard of it before, and while it may not have hit the mainstream, sometimes you discover a real gem that has been locked away waiting to be viewed.

The lead is played by

Brian Gleeson, who I didn’t click at the time, is the son of my favourite Irish actor

Brendan Gleeson (The Guard) and the younger brother of

Domhnall Gleeson (About Time). Now I know, I can see the strong family resemblance. Feel a bit dumb not joining those dots as I am usually quite good at finding the connections.

The female lead, the love interest, is carried by

Jessica Paré of Mad Men fame. It has to be said, she is not your classic beauty here in this movie, not even eliciting a sexy girl’next’door look. She was far more sensual as Don Drapers squeeze.

They bump through the usual will-they-or-won’t-they scenario’s of the usual rom-com journey, with the natural outcome that we are rewarded with for sitting through it all.

It isn’t an offensive comedy, it has some funny lines (as Mark Kermode would say, passes the 6 laugh test) and it doesn’t spend too long in any given scene where you would normally be saying get on with it.

It is no Notting Hill so Richard Curtis, the master of the under stated romantic comedy, can rest easy.

If you want to watch something that couldn’t quite gain mainstream popularity then you won’t go too far wrong. Just lower your expectations and you’ll have an enjoyable evening.