Film Review: On the Nose (2001)
Paul the Octopus became one of the greatest animal celebrities of 21st Century for his alleged ability to predict match results during 2010 World Cup. In a roundabout way this real life story matched fictional premise of On the Nose, 2001 Irish-Canadian comedy directed by David Caffrey.
Protagonist, played by Robbie Coltrane, is Brendan Delaney, former gambler who gave up the habit but still struggles financially. He is forced to make ends meet working as a porter at Dublin College of Medicine where he accidentally discovered strange phenomenon related to 200-year old preserved head of Australian Aborigine which had been kept at the place for research purpose. When the jar containing head is exposed to sunlight at the certain times of day, the head begins to move and point to numbers that correspond to horses winning next race at the track. While Brendan stays out of it, he shared secret with small number of colleagues and thus great gambling syndicate that turns profit betting on winners. When he learns that his daughter is accepted to university and needs large sum of money for tuition, he changes mind and decides to bet everything on important race. The problem arises when Michael Miller (played by Tony Briggs), Aboriginal activist, arrives to Dublin in order to return the head to Australia. Brendan now must race against time and also deals with gangsters who would prefer to have the head and profits that come with it for themselves.
On the Nose has intriguing premise, which was, unfortunately, wasted on subpar script by Tony Philpott. It was never explained how Brendan has found the head and, more importantly, how he discovered its magical abilities. Script briefly flirts with themes of oppression and exploitation of natives by British Empire, but for the most part is very shallow and unimaginative. Cliches involving sports betting and presence of organised crime that goes with it are followed by predictably happy ending. On the other hand, Caffrey does somewhat decent job portraying working class milieu in modern Ireland. Robbie Coltrane, one of the most renowned British character actors of his time, obviously enjoys opportunity to play protagonist, but his and presence of his talented peers (with Dan Aykroyd appearing in small and forgettable role on the account of being among producers) can’t rescue this film from missing the right spot and sinking towards mediocrity.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
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