Red Roses and Petrol
Encyclopedia
Red Roses and Petrol is a 2003
drama film
based on the stage play of the same name by Joseph O'Connor
. The film was directed by Tamar Simon Hoffs
, and stars Malcolm McDowell
and Max Beesley
. Was released in 2008.
) gathers in Dublin for his wake. A university librarian, poet, and complicated man, he has left behind a trail of unresolved issues, a dysfunctional family
, and a disturbing mystery. Red Roses and Petrol, a darkly comic feature film by director Tamar Simon Hoffs, explores the emotional twists and turns of familial relationships.
Enda’s dazed widow, Moya (Olivia Tracey), anxiously prepares for the next day’s funeral with her still stuck-at-home, twenty-something daughter Medbh (Maeve) (Heather Juergensen
), lending a loving hand. Moya’s desperation to keep her family together and Medbh’s sharp tongue provide the backdrop for the arrival from New York of headstrong older sister Catherine (Susan Lynch
), with her handsome but awkward boyfriend Tom (Greg Ellis
) in tow. They doubt that London-based Johnny (Max Beesley
), the angry black sheep brother of the family, will appear at all. Sorting through boxes of Enda’s books, the women discover a cache of self-recorded video diaries that might shed light on who Enda Doyle really was, and some of the secrets of his life that he was never able to share with them.
At the funeral, the daughters see a distraught young woman from the university, Helen (Catherine Farrell), rumored to be having an affair with Enda. They’re stunned that she would show up so brazenly at a family gathering for the deceased Enda. Returning home, they find Johnny emerging half-naked from the shower, after a quick tryst with a stewardess he met on his flight from London. A brilliant, wounded slacker, Johnny manages to irritate everyone to the edge of violence with his biting and sarcastic recall of the family’s long buried memories. Johnny’s confrontational behavior and bitter assessment of life with father, incite the clan into what can only be called unchecked family therapy.
Throughout the ensuing arguments, which reach a fevered pitch as the family gets inebriated waiting for guests to arrive for the wake, we learn about the powerful and ambiguous force that was Enda Doyle. Finally, Catherine cannot contain herself and accuses Moya of being blind to her husband’s infidelity and by extension causing great harm to herself and her children. In a surprising twist, Enda’s own videotapes give the family the answers they returned home to find.
, was runner up at the Westwood Film Festival, and received recognition at the Deauville Film Festival
, AFI
Fest, the Boston Irish Film Festival, the Newport Beach Film Festival
, the Toronto Film Festival circuit, and the Palm Springs Film Festival
.
- Enda Doyle
Olivia Tracey - Moya Doyle
Heather Juergensen
- Medbh Doyle
Max Beesley
- Johnny Doyle
Susan Lynch
- Catherine Doyle
Greg Ellis
- Tom Ivers
Catherine Farrell - Helen
Aubrey Morris
- The Chaplain
Robert Easton
- Jim
Sean Lawlor
- Professor Thompson
and Susanna Hoffs
, with original music by Seth Podowitz.
As listed in the movie credits (not necessarily on the soundtrack):
2003 in film
The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
based on the stage play of the same name by Joseph O'Connor
Joseph O'Connor
Joseph Victor O'Connor is an Irish novelist. He is known for his 2002 historical novel Star of the Sea. Before success as an author he was a journalist with the Sunday Tribune newspaper and Esquire magazine...
. The film was directed by Tamar Simon Hoffs
Tamar Simon Hoffs
Tamar Simon Hoffs is an award-winning American film director, writer, and producer, best known for directing the indie films Red Roses and Petrol and Pound of Flesh , both starring Malcolm McDowell.-Life and career:...
, and stars Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
and Max Beesley
Max Beesley
Maxton Gig Beesley Jr. , known simply as Max Beesley, is an English actor and musician.Beesley rose to fame for his role of Andy Simpson in Every Woman, Every Man from 1993 to 1998, and has since appeared in a variety of television shows including Bodies, Hotel Babylon, London Ink, Survivors and...
. Was released in 2008.
Synopsis
Amid a haze of cigarette smoke and uneaten food, the family of Enda Doyle (Malcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
) gathers in Dublin for his wake. A university librarian, poet, and complicated man, he has left behind a trail of unresolved issues, a dysfunctional family
Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
, and a disturbing mystery. Red Roses and Petrol, a darkly comic feature film by director Tamar Simon Hoffs, explores the emotional twists and turns of familial relationships.
Enda’s dazed widow, Moya (Olivia Tracey), anxiously prepares for the next day’s funeral with her still stuck-at-home, twenty-something daughter Medbh (Maeve) (Heather Juergensen
Heather Juergensen
Heather Julia Juergensen is an American actress and writer.-Life and career:Juergensen was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1987. Soon after, she began writing and performing for the stage in both New York and Los Angeles...
), lending a loving hand. Moya’s desperation to keep her family together and Medbh’s sharp tongue provide the backdrop for the arrival from New York of headstrong older sister Catherine (Susan Lynch
Susan Lynch
Susan Lynch is an actor from Northern Ireland.-Early life:Lynch was born in Corrinshego, Newry, County Armagh, Northern Ireland to an Italian mother and Irish father. Her brother is actor John Lynch, she has a sister, Pauline, who is a drama teacher at St...
), with her handsome but awkward boyfriend Tom (Greg Ellis
Greg Ellis (actor)
Greg Ellis is an English actor known for his TV, movie, and video game voice over work. He has appeared in films such as the Pirates of the Caribbean series, the 2009 Star Trek film , Titanic, Beowulf, To End All Wars, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith...
) in tow. They doubt that London-based Johnny (Max Beesley
Max Beesley
Maxton Gig Beesley Jr. , known simply as Max Beesley, is an English actor and musician.Beesley rose to fame for his role of Andy Simpson in Every Woman, Every Man from 1993 to 1998, and has since appeared in a variety of television shows including Bodies, Hotel Babylon, London Ink, Survivors and...
), the angry black sheep brother of the family, will appear at all. Sorting through boxes of Enda’s books, the women discover a cache of self-recorded video diaries that might shed light on who Enda Doyle really was, and some of the secrets of his life that he was never able to share with them.
At the funeral, the daughters see a distraught young woman from the university, Helen (Catherine Farrell), rumored to be having an affair with Enda. They’re stunned that she would show up so brazenly at a family gathering for the deceased Enda. Returning home, they find Johnny emerging half-naked from the shower, after a quick tryst with a stewardess he met on his flight from London. A brilliant, wounded slacker, Johnny manages to irritate everyone to the edge of violence with his biting and sarcastic recall of the family’s long buried memories. Johnny’s confrontational behavior and bitter assessment of life with father, incite the clan into what can only be called unchecked family therapy.
Throughout the ensuing arguments, which reach a fevered pitch as the family gets inebriated waiting for guests to arrive for the wake, we learn about the powerful and ambiguous force that was Enda Doyle. Finally, Catherine cannot contain herself and accuses Moya of being blind to her husband’s infidelity and by extension causing great harm to herself and her children. In a surprising twist, Enda’s own videotapes give the family the answers they returned home to find.
Awards
The film won first prize at the Avignon Film FestivalAvignon Film Festival
Avignon Film Festival is also known as the Rencontres Cinématographiques Franco-Américain d'Avignon. The festival used to be called the French/American Film Workshop.The festival took place in Avignon, France every year and was devoted to promoting Film...
, was runner up at the Westwood Film Festival, and received recognition at the Deauville Film Festival
Deauville American Film Festival
The Deauville American Film Festival is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, taking place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Chouchan and André Halimi....
, AFI
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Fest, the Boston Irish Film Festival, the Newport Beach Film Festival
Newport Beach Film Festival
The Newport Beach Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Newport Beach, California, that showcases more than 350 films to more than 30,000 attendees annually....
, the Toronto Film Festival circuit, and the Palm Springs Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. It was started in 1989 and is held annually in January...
.
Cast of Characters
Malcolm McDowellMalcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...
- Enda Doyle
Olivia Tracey - Moya Doyle
Heather Juergensen
Heather Juergensen
Heather Julia Juergensen is an American actress and writer.-Life and career:Juergensen was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1987. Soon after, she began writing and performing for the stage in both New York and Los Angeles...
- Medbh Doyle
Max Beesley
Max Beesley
Maxton Gig Beesley Jr. , known simply as Max Beesley, is an English actor and musician.Beesley rose to fame for his role of Andy Simpson in Every Woman, Every Man from 1993 to 1998, and has since appeared in a variety of television shows including Bodies, Hotel Babylon, London Ink, Survivors and...
- Johnny Doyle
Susan Lynch
Susan Lynch
Susan Lynch is an actor from Northern Ireland.-Early life:Lynch was born in Corrinshego, Newry, County Armagh, Northern Ireland to an Italian mother and Irish father. Her brother is actor John Lynch, she has a sister, Pauline, who is a drama teacher at St...
- Catherine Doyle
Greg Ellis
Greg Ellis (actor)
Greg Ellis is an English actor known for his TV, movie, and video game voice over work. He has appeared in films such as the Pirates of the Caribbean series, the 2009 Star Trek film , Titanic, Beowulf, To End All Wars, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith...
- Tom Ivers
Catherine Farrell - Helen
Aubrey Morris
Aubrey Morris
Aubrey Morris is a British actor perhaps best known for his appearances in the cult 1970s films A Clockwork Orange and The Wicker Man....
- The Chaplain
Robert Easton
Robert Easton (actor)
Robert Easton is an American actor whose career in film and television spans more than 60 years. His mastery of English dialect has earned him the epithet "The Man of a Thousand Voices", For decades he has been a leading Hollywood dialogue or accent coach.Easton was born Robert Easton Burke in...
- Jim
Sean Lawlor
Sean Lawlor
Sean Lawlor was an Irish character actor and playwright. He was best known for his portrayal of Malcolm Wallace in Mel Gibson's Oscar-winning epic, Braveheart. In addition, he also appeared in James Cameron's Titanic and Jim Sheridan's In the Name of the Father...
- Professor Thompson
Soundtrack
Songs for the film are by Flogging MollyFlogging Molly
Flogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish-descendant band from Los Angeles, California, that is currently signed to their own record label, Borstal Beat Records.-Early years:...
and Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Lee Hoffs is an American vocalist, guitarist and actress. She is best known as a member of the all-female pop band The Bangles.-Early life:...
, with original music by Seth Podowitz.
As listed in the movie credits (not necessarily on the soundtrack):
- Flogging MollyFlogging MollyFlogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish-descendant band from Los Angeles, California, that is currently signed to their own record label, Borstal Beat Records.-Early years:...
- If I Ever Leave this World Alive - Susanna HoffsSusanna HoffsSusanna Lee Hoffs is an American vocalist, guitarist and actress. She is best known as a member of the all-female pop band The Bangles.-Early life:...
- The Water Is Wide (Irish Mix) - Flogging MollyFlogging MollyFlogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish-descendant band from Los Angeles, California, that is currently signed to their own record label, Borstal Beat Records.-Early years:...
- Salty Dog - Flogging MollyFlogging MollyFlogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish-descendant band from Los Angeles, California, that is currently signed to their own record label, Borstal Beat Records.-Early years:...
- Drunken Lullabies - Flogging MollyFlogging MollyFlogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish-descendant band from Los Angeles, California, that is currently signed to their own record label, Borstal Beat Records.-Early years:...
- Devils Dance Floor - Susanna HoffsSusanna HoffsSusanna Lee Hoffs is an American vocalist, guitarist and actress. She is best known as a member of the all-female pop band The Bangles.-Early life:...
- Catch The Wind, written by DonovanDonovanDonovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music... - Flogging MollyFlogging MollyFlogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish-descendant band from Los Angeles, California, that is currently signed to their own record label, Borstal Beat Records.-Early years:...
- The Worst Day Since Yesterday - Flogging MollyFlogging MollyFlogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish-descendant band from Los Angeles, California, that is currently signed to their own record label, Borstal Beat Records.-Early years:...
- The Likes of You Again
External links
- Red Roses and Petrol Official Site
- Red Roses and Petrol at the Internet Movie Database
- Red Roses and Petrol Interview 2008 at The213.net
- Olivia Tracey Interview at The Irish Examiner USA