Five Minutes of Heaven

Rating: 8.0/10

Genre: Drama
Overall value for money and time: 7.8/10

A former terrorist member who killed an innocent teenager has to face his younger brother years later when the media arrange a recouncilation meeting between the both of them. Once teenagers, both grown men must face the ultimate "showdown" of redemption and forgiveness. The first part of the movie which enacted the murder was supposedly based on true accounts while the 2nd half of it was "fiction".

Comparable to In Bruges, where it predominantly shows that it's not so much as the quantity but the quality of the acting which stretches the lead of a good movie. Both Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt gave one of their best performances in this movie. Though bumpy at times in the flow of the storyline, the camera techniques used were refreshingly novel. It harbors probably few of the most memorable scenes in movie making history.

Where I once learnt about the various camera techniques such as jump shots etc, this movie introduces scenes one would rarely or never see in other films. There was a good 360 degrees spanning shot of Liam Neeson as he was being "interviewed", a full length no cut scene and the final zoom up really brought out the essence of this veteran actor. He's already in my list of favourite actors and this movie just made him champ. Also, there were "cheeky" scenes where the director would build up the suspense and drop you to your feet once more as he does an "instant replay". Finally, one of the ending scenes where both actors fall off a window ledge and the inching of the camera before it drops vertically down was truly classic.

A suspense building drama about the men they once were, and the men they now are. An unforgettable movie experience!!