You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll hurl. Because Inside I'm Dancing (retitled Rory O'Shea Was Here for US release) is amusing, touching and cornily manipulative in roughly equal measure. And since two of those qualities are positive to one negative, the picture deserves the benefit of the doubt. Not that I went into the cinema in anything like a charitable frame of mind, my expectations having been lowered by the duff (UK) title, offputting (UK) poster, uninspiring pluck-of-the-disabled premise, and the fact that I'd never had any desire to acquaint myself with O'Donnell's previous two comedies, smash hit East Is East and barely-released flop Heartlands.

I must admit that, despite liking Inside I'm Dancing, I still don't feel especially moved to catch up with that directorial back-catalogue. Not that O'Donnell does anything other than a competent job, eliciting some strong performances from his mostly young and inexperienced cast. In commercial terms, it makes sense to entrust such commercially "tricky" material to a proven safe pair of hands. Trouble is, a safe pair of hands is precisely what Inside I'm Dancing  doesn't need. Given O'Donnell's approach, it's entirely apt that the first shot should show an industrial polishing-machine working its way across a wooden floor - this script might have been better served by a director who'd left in a few more appealingly rough edges.

As it is, it's hard to imagine the film's punkish, rebellious central character Rory (James McAvoy) expressing anything other than raucous disapproval at O'Donnell's MOR finished product (much as Lester Bangs would surely have ripped apart Almost Famous). Rory has Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy, a wasting condition which severely restricts his movement. Unfortunately for all those around him, Rory's tongue isn't afflicted by this paralysis, and he spares nobody's feelings in expressing exactly what he feels when things aren't to his satisfaction. Such as his severe disgruntlement at being temporarily confined to a care-home in his native Dublin, run by a stern but sympathetic old biddy (Brenda Fricker, inevitably).

One of the longer-serving residents at the home is Michael (Steven Robertson) - like Rory, he must use a wheelchair to get around, but in Michael's case the cause is Cerebral Palsy. While his mental capacity is normal, Michael's speech is badly impaired and he struggles to make himself understood - until he discovers that Rory, who has previous experience with the speech-impaired, can easily "translate" for him. It isn't long before the pair have taken advantage of Ireland's "independent living" grant and moved into their own city-centre flat, where they employ Siobhan (Romola Garai) as a carer. But the presence of the attractive Siobhan soon stirs the passions in these young men who, despite their disabilities, have no shortage of physical and emotional needs.

Based on a story by Christian O'Reilly, the script for Inside I'm Dancing - by Jeffrey Caine, whose previous screen credit was for GoldenEye, of all things - adopts a predictable three-act structure, but this isn't necessarily a criticism. The picture does what it does, doesn't take an inordinate amount of time doing it, and then leaves us to ponder its various messages and morals. O'Donnell's earthbound approach occasionally rankles - especially when he amps up David Julyan's score to dot the screenplay's every i and cross every t - but he's saved by the efforts of his cast, with newcomer Robertson narrowly shading the honours ahead of the much-hyped, fast-rising-star McAvoy.

by Neil Young

21st October, 2004
[seen 9th October : Odeon, Nuneaton : press show - Cinemadays event]

RORY O'SHEA WAS HERE aka INSIDE I'M DANCING   [6/10]
Ire (UK-Ire) 2004 : Damien O'DONNELL : 104 mins