ALLOW me to urge you this week to pencil in The Runway, the kind of movie that only the Irish can conjure. It is simple and charming and a real pick-me-up.
The 100 minutes running time will just fly by.
Written and directed by Ian Power, and winner at the Galway Film Fleadh, it is inspired by the true story of a Mexican pilot who crashed his plane, named Emesto, near Mallow, in 1983.
The movie, shot in Goleen, county Cork, and with a screen populated by recognisable Irish actors, portrays him as a Columbian involved in shady dealings, to spice up the storyline.
The pilot, played by Mexican-born Dermir Bichir, is discovered by nine year old Paco, (Jamie Kierans).
Paco just happens to have been falling to sleep to Spanish language tapes because his mother has told him that the father he never knew was a Spanish sailor.
Against all odds, the little fellow persuades the local councillors and good people of Mallow to band together to build a runway to get him home, and in doing so, briefly capture the imagination of the nation.
