The Van (1996 film)

The Van
DVD cover
Directed by	Stephen Frears
Written by	Roddy Doyle
Produced by	Lynda Myles Mark Shivas
Starring	Colm Meaney Donal O'Kelly Ger Ryan Caroline Rothwell Neilí Conroy Rúaidhrí Conroy Brendan O'Carroll Stuart Dunne
Cinematography	Oliver Stapleton
Edited by	Mick Audsley
Music by	Eric Clapton Richard Hartley
Distributed by	Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates	Cannes: 11 May 1996 29 November 1996 16 May 1997 7 August 1997 11 September 1997
Running time	100 minutes
Country	Ireland
Language	English

The Van is a 1996 film, based on the novel (the third one of The Barrytown Trilogy) by Roddy Doyle. Like The Snapper, it was directed by Stephen Frears. It was entered into the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

The movie is set in "Barrytown", a fictitious working-class quarter of Dublin. Brendan "Bimbo" Reeves gets laid off from his job as a baker. With his redundancy cheque, he buys a van and sells fish and chips with his best mate, Larry. Due to Ireland's surprising success at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, their business starts off well. But the relationship between the two friends soon becomes strained as Bimbo and his wife, Maggie behave more and more like typical bosses. Larry believes that Maggie is the cause of the strained friendship, as he thinks she's pushing Bimbo away from him. The van is closed down because of poor hygiene by health inspector, Des O'Callaghan. Bimbo thinks that Larry told the Health Board about the van, leading to a fight between the two. Larry quits the job, despite Bimbo's best efforts to get him back. Bimbo then drives the van into the sea, so as to win his friendship with Larry back.

Cast

• Colm Meaney - Larry; The main protagonist. Named Jimmy Rabbitte in the book. He is Bimbo's best friend but the friendship becomes strained because of Bimbo's bossiness.
• Donal O'Kelly - Brendan "Bimbo" Reeves; The secondary protagonist. Larry's best friend, but Larry believes that the van's ownership should be split 50-50 between them.
• Ger Ryan - Maggie; Bimbo's wife. Larry strongly dislikes her because of her bossiness, calling her a "stupid bitch". She is the van's secretary.
• Caroline Rothwell - Mary; Larry's wife. Named Veronica in the book.
• Neilí Conroy - Diane; Larry and Mary's daughter. Named Sharon in the book.
• Rúaidhrí Conroy - Kevin; Larry and Mary's son. Named Darren in the book.
• Brendan O'Carroll - Weslie; Larry and Bimbo's friend. Named Bertie in the book.
• Stuart Dunne - Sam
• Jack Lynch - Cancer
• Laurie Morton - Maggie's Mum
• Marie Mullen - Vera
• Jon Kenny - Gerry McCarthy
• Mark Curtis
• Moses Rowen - Glenn
• Linda McGovern - Jessica
• Eoin Chaney - Wayne

External links

• The Van at IMDb
• The Van at AllMovie
• The Van at Rotten Tomatoes