Five Minutes of Heaven

Two men whose lives have been scarred by a brutal 1975 murder in Northern Ireland—the convicted killer turned peacemaker Alistair Little (Liam Neeson) and the victim's younger brother, Joe Griffen (James Nesbitt)—are brought together decades later. While the crime presented in the prologue is based on a real-life incident, the subsequent events in director Oliver Hirschbiegel's film are fictional, offering a kind of speculative exploration of a truth and reconciliation program for a culture in which the cycle of violence is as personal as it is political. Five Minutes of Heaven offers no histrionic confrontations, no Shakespearean speeches, no dramatic breakdowns of confession and forgiveness; instead, it creates an atmosphere so volatile that a spark could set it off. Neeson is all dignity and restraint as a man who has spent his life trying to redeem himself by helping others, while Nesbitt is a bundle of raw nerves on the verge of panic as he uses the program to obtain his “five minutes of heaven”—payback for the hell he's lived in since the killing. Built around an emotionally jagged screenplay that effectively captures the damage to a society that nurtures division and hatred, this engaging drama holds out hope for healing while remaining keenly aware of both the price paid by victims and the scars that may never fully heal. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)