‘Van’ Runs Out Of Gas

There’s an image in “The Van” of the van itself, sitting beached like a whale on the wet sands of Dublin Bay. Even if it is not a climactic image, it would suggest a glum metaphor for the film itself. Not that “The Van” is a beached whale exactly. Its trouble is not that it’s too big, but too little, too insubstantial. It would have been nice to report that the closing installment in Roddy Doyle’s Barrytown trilogy was as rich and funny and touching as “The Commitments” and “The Snapper.” But it just isn’t. It has funny moments, and most of the time it’s good company, thanks to Colm Meaney’s warm bluster and Donal O’Kelly’s increasing bile as a man who discovers he’s not cut out to be an entrepreneur.

The film almost falls apart when it veers off into an illustration of the idea that business and friendship do not - cannot - mix.

“The Van” is best when it’s a comedy of unemployment, launched when O’Kelly’s mild-mannered neighbor loses his baker’s job after 25 years, then takes his severance pay, before he drinks it up, and buys an old wreck of a van. He plans to spruce it up and use it to sell hamburgers, chips, and snacks from what becomes, in effect, a greasy spoon on wheels. Meaney, who doesn’t like to be reminded that his profession has become unemployment, joins him to cash in on the fact that Ireland’s appearance in the World Cup finals will set fans’ appetites and digestive fluids flowing.

As if to compensate for their poor material, Meaney and O’Kelly get louder and louder. The story’s charm and humor wear thin - or, rather, they were thin to begin with, and the story has ever-more difficulty concealing this as the film proceeds.

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“The Van” Location: Lincoln Heights Credits: Directed by Stephen Frears, starring Colm Meaney, Donal O’Kelly, Ger Ryan, Caroline Rothwell Running time: 1:45 Rated: R