February 8th, 2014 
Grace Duffy 
Film: Run and Jump
Directed by: Steph Green
Starring: Maxine Peake, Will Forte
It’s a long way from Nebraska to Kerry. Will Forte is probably the last person you’d expect to see in the charming Run and Jump, an unexpectedly uplifting film about a family in rural Ireland struggling to deal with the aftermath of a stroke. It’s as far away from Alexander Payne’s Oscar contender as you can imagine, a simple but stirring number that celebrates bravery and spirit and offers a deceptively complex look at the difficulties of staying strong in the wake of a personal tragedy. Forte may be the most recognisable face here (at least outside of Ireland) but his is not the stellar performance – rather, Maxine Peake offers a tour-de-force turn as Vanetia, the spirited matriarch whose vibrancy and cheer anchors both her family and the film around them.
Ted (Forte) is an American cognitive neuroscientist who travels to Kerry to stay with the Casey family, whose father Conor (Edward MacLiam) recently suffered a devastating stroke at the age of 38. Despite the odds being stacked against him, Conor has managed to make a partial recovery, astounding doctors to such a degree that Ted insists on observing him for two months as part of a study for his upcoming book. Over time, he finds himself warming to Vanetia (Peake), Conor’s wife and the family’s driving force as they attempt to adapt to their new circumstances.
There’s a phenomenon in Ireland we call the Irish mammy. It’s tough to explain to anyone who doesn’t have one, not least because all mammies the world over tend to be of the fierce and long-suffering ilk. However, that said, the Irish incarnation is unique and distinctive. She’s the type who’ll chase you up the road to Mass, yelling at you the entire time for not bringing a coat. She’ll feed you far too much cos she’s convinced you’re wasting away, then tell you how much of a waster you are for passing out on the couch in a food coma. She’s a treasure and a curse and an all-round fiend, but you’re sorted for life if you’re lucky enough to have one (as I do; a Dub to boot, which makes it all the better). The conventional image of the Irish mammy is that of the red-faced farmer’s wife with apron and rolling pin but in Run and Jump, we see a far more contemporary, personal, and incisive embodiment of it in Vanetia. Far more than just the head of her table, she is its undying, unfailingly optimistic lifeblood. It’s made abundantly clear throughout that without her determined cheer and relentless energy everything would fall to pieces – her son ostracised and bullied at school, her young daughter struggling to understand the changed mental state of her father, her in-laws grieving for their stricken son. It is this strength, brought so convincingly and warmly to life by Peake, that gives Run and Jump its charm. It’s as endearingly simplistic as its rural surrounds and yet, like that remote and often forbidding landscape, it has hidden depths. Peake’s momentary lapses in ardour and hints of emotional frailty bring truth to her struggle, hinting ever more poignantly at the hardship she faces in carrying the burdens of three generations. Her vigour is what draws the staid, clinical Ted into the family, forcing him to perceive his subject as human, husband, and father and not just as subject. There’s a clever nod to this midway through the film as Vanetia bemoans the forced sympathy of her neighbours, all feigned interest and support with no real emotive engagement with what she’s going through. The viewer, like Ted, is forced to confront the reality of her life by her sheer frankness – an earnest acceptance of the situation for what it is but a steadfast refusal to make it any more difficult than it has to be. It is this bravado and pragmatism that has underpinned generations of Irish family life, and Peake (frequently dodgy accent aside) brings it winningly and triumphantly to the screen.
However, to attribute the success of Run and Jump to Peake alone would be to do its fellow cast and crew disservice. The supporting players – most notably MacLiam as Conor and Brendan Morris as son Lenny (no one in Ireland would ever be called Lenny) (or Vanetia, for that matter) – are as engaging and affecting as she is, all very distinctly ordinary faces bringing genuine pathos to a challenging situation. Further, it’s beautifully written, at once lively and sensitive in its portrayal of family life and adversity. It bears a strong eye for emotion but never becomes mawkish. By refusing to manipulate the tragedy of its subject, it shines a clear and compelling light thereupon, moving more in its honesty and sincerity than in any sentimental appeal.
It’s a profound shame that Irish films tend not to be very widely distributed outside of their home nation, for this one presents a far more appealing and recognisable depiction of the country and its many bereaved and afflicted families. Films about illness need not be brash tearjerkers intent on wringing the heartstrings of their audience – rather, they can move and mesmerise by simply and fondly embracing the lives they depict, no matter what their circumstances.
SCORE: B+
Review written by Grace Duffy
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