Customer Reviews

The Van [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am not writing a review. Believe me when I tell you this is a very funny and charming film.
My point is that Roddy Doyle wrote a trilogy-the snapper/the committments/the van
THIS IS THE ONLY ONE OF THE 3 NOT RELEASED ON DVD- WHY?
the committments were great and are being rereleaseed for the the 2nd time (3 in all)
the snapper is hilarious and is constantly being played on television, besides being available on DVD
The Van is perhaps the funniest or at least deserves to be releasesed on DVD for all movie fans! even for the non-irish, including myself

I am writing this on Amazon because this is where I purchase my hard to find DVD's

this flick must be released on DVD, Irish , English, Americans, etc we will all purchase the Van- because it is worth it.

I guess Leonard Maltin just didn't get it. This is a fitting conclusion to Roddy Doyle's Dublin trilogy, following The Commitments and The Snapper. It is in the same class as those two classics in the way that it portrays life in working class Dublin warts and all, with no excuses. Colm Meaney (Larry) and Donal O'Kelly (Bimbo) play two out-of-work regular guys who invest in a "chipper" van to earn some money but mostly to regain some of their self-respect. Neither of the main characters is entirely likeable all the time, but I wouldn't be either if I were out of work. Whether or not the friendship between the two men can survive is the heart of the story. As in all three of the movies in the series, The Van uses mostly unknown actors to tell its simple story of regular people playing the hand they were dealt. If you are a football (soccer) fan, you'll savor the scenes from the 1990 World Cup as seen through the eyes of the rabid Irish fans. As he did in The Snapper, director Stephen Frears has expertly captured the look and feel of Dublin and given us characters to care about. Rent this one and see for yourself, and hope that the video becomes available for a more reasonable price.

This is an amazing movie, the third movie in the film version of the Barrytown Trilogy (The Commitments and The Snapper). Colm Meaney shines as usual. The only bad thing about this movie is that it has not been released on DVD yet. Hopefully it will be released on DVD soon!

I enjoyed this movie very much, it had me laughing. Colm Meaney is excellent in this movie, and delivers some of the best lines which made me shoot soda out of my nose. It is a movie I would love to add to my DVD collection, so I hope the release it soon.

This has got to be released on DVD. No question.

It's part of a trilogy, it'll complete many Roddy Doyle fans collections and it is damn good!

Some people have criticised the movie for not being as funny as the book -well duh! Books are almost always better, because you use your own imagination! Did Trainspotting live up to the book, not in my opinion -but millions still loved the movie.

Forget those comments about not bothering with this movie, it carries on where The Snapper left off 3 years previously.

If you liked The Snapper, do yourself a favour and get this movie when it goes to DVD.

I just watched this for the first time in a few years and laughed aloud once again. As a pure comedy and portrait of Irish life just prior to the Celtic Tiger '90's, this film is unbeatable. A great "fillum". Something interesting:

I was in the mood to see The Van and The Snapper again (having just rented The Commitments at my local Blockbuster) and was lamenting the fact that they are so hard to find. My local rare-release rental shop, Movie Madness, is the only place I was sure of finding them. However, having just got the Tivo-style DVR from Comcast Cable I decided to do a search for The Snapper and The Van without much hope of success. I was amazed to find both films immediately on HBO channels and was saved a trip to the video store.

I loved "The Snapper" and "The Commitments," and for the life of me, I don't understand why this has not been released on DVD here in the US. For my money, it's the best of the Barrytown Trilogy films.

If you can download and watch this film, by all means, do so! The dialog alone between the characters as they watch Team Ireland play in a World Cup match is by itself worth the price of admission.

Colm Meany rules, wha?

Pay no attention to Leonard Maltin's views of this movie. If you read and enjoyed Doyle's "Barrytown Trilogy", and watched and enjoyed the movies "The Commitments" and "The Snapper", you'll enjoy this one as well. Perfectly conveys the story with Meaaney a loveable sod. In my opinion, it was the best movie of 1996.

First off, I didn't know this was part of a trilogy, so this is coming from the standpoint of someone who has only watched the Van. With that out of the way I have to say this was a GREAT film. It was hilarious and heart warming in the fact that it deals with working stiffs. The fact that it is set in Dublin only adds to the charm of this film because of all the acents and colorful language. If you are looking for a great down to earth film then this is for you!

Nowhere near as good as "The Snapper" or "Commitments". The humor is forced and not funny, and Colm Meaney's character comes off as small-minded, selfish and mean, while his friend is (literally, at one point) little better than a dribbling idiot. Not that there's anything wrong with that as such, but the whole thing is very 1-dimensional, there's no real story, and it gets tiresome after a while.