The Van (1996)
4/10
The only feel good thing about this movie is that it feels good not to be like these guys
27 December 2013
Warning: Spoilers
A friend of mine said that this is a feel good movie. It makes you feel good that your life does not suck as much as theirs does. This is a very interesting movie as it is about mateship. Two men loose their jobs and find a rotting van which they salvage and turn into a chip van. They have absolutely no idea as to how to run a such a van, but do so anyway. The movie looks at how they struggle through their mateship in relation to the van.

Larry (Colm Meanly) is a big mouthed know it all. It is his character that the movie is based around and he steals the scene in most of the movie. Bimbo is the owner of the van but he is pushed to the side with Larry's almost dominant character. The movie looks at the struggle that they go through and how their friendship begins to disintegrate with the van. Larry acts constantly without consulting Bimbo and this angers him greatly. Twice he hires family without even saying anything to Bimbo.

There isn't much in the way to comment on this film for it really looks at life of two people in Ireland in the early '90's. Much of the things come out of the two characters and how we watch the friendship fall apart. It is an interesting movie in the way a couple of things are conducted, such as when the van is rolled back to Bimbo's house and a huge crowd follows them, signifying a new start to their seemingly meaningless life.

Much of the trouble can be seen with the way Larry treats the privilege of working with Bimbo in the van. He is stubborn and sulks. When given a wage he begins to play union with Bimbo. He treats customers with disrespect and finds himself in trouble numerous times. We shouldn't feel good that our life is not like theirs, but rather look at them and learn about how we are responsible for what happens to us. We shouldn't go pushing others around and then complain that they don't like us, rather we should just not push others around, and if we do, then accept the consequences.
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