George (Brian F. O'Byrne), Bronagh (Anna Friel) and Colm (Barry McEvoy)

An Everlasting Piece stars Barry McEvoy as Colm, the Catholic half of the toupee sales team. Interestingly enough, McEvoy also wove the movie's script from true stories of his father's life as an Irish barber and hairpiece merchant. As written and played by his creator, Colm's basic good nature is overshadowed by hard-headed and even heartless characteristics. He'd rather wrestle in the mud to repossess an unpaid toupee than arrive pressed and promptly to a crucial sales meeting. And he's all too willing to sell toupees en mass to the terrorist freedom fighters of the Irish Republican Army. Colm's eagerness to do business with the IRA pushes his friendships to the limits. His poetry-loving Protestant business partner George (subtlety played by Brian F. O'Byrne) and girlfriend Bronagh (appetizing and well acted by Anna Friel) all but question their ability to forgive.

It's hard not to feel a little sorry for Colm. He's a guy working on commission, trying not to get shot in the process and who dreams of having two Jacuzzis, "one for each foot." If he's not the sharpest pair of scissors in the drawer, at least he's the most practical. Colm's problem deciding where his true loyalties lie is stickier than a new roll of wig tape. His turnabout decision to take the slightly higher road to the land of milk and money, by selling wigs (at twice the price) to the highly stressed and prematurely bald British army, is An Everlasting Piece’s slightly muddled message of the power of a peaceful gesture. After all, it sucks to be bald, no matter whose side you're on.

From its opening shots of Belfast's polarized mob-ruled neighborhoods – played to the tight nervous beat of Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime" – to its nutty closing with the village madman waving a long lost toupee like a flag of victory, An Everlasting Piece is an unusual, amusing and worthwhile movie. Fans of inanity festivals like Ace Ventura II, There’s Something About Mary, or anything starring Adam Sandler will probably find it too "political." Granted, it's not as funny or magical as Levinson's Rain Man and the climax is bound to get a few diehard Irish lads up in arms (figuratively, of course). But if you aren't afraid of a movie that honestly tries to mix equal parts grim and tonic, than An Everlasting Piece is well worth the price of admission and attention. The acting, direction and cinematography are top shelf and the story is good for a few rounds of Guinness and whiskey-fuelled conversation at the nearest pub afterwards. Cheers to the Barrys: Levinson & McEvoy. Good job mates.

December 2000