Five Minutes of Heaven

Aroview: Northern Ireland's troubled past is tackled in a contemporary spirit of "truth and reconciliation" in this fictional drama in which James Nesbitt goes before the cameras to confront the Ulster Volunteer Force member (Liam Neeson) who killed his teenage brother in the 1970's.

Liam Neeson's performance feels lived-in (still grieving from the death of his real-life wife, Natasha Richardson) and lends weight to this relatively subdued offering from the German director of DOWNFALL, who was attracted to the project for its unique perspective on the salient subject of terrorism. With its heart on its sleeve, this is a film that's social conscience looms larger than its artistic one, but its clear-eyed delineation of the root causes of political violence make it at least satisfying as drama, and especially worthy as an educational resource.

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