TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

david-sarkies A friend of mine said that this is a feel good movie. It makes you feel good that your life does not suck as much as theirs does. This is a very interesting movie as it is about mateship. Two men loose their jobs and find a rotting van which they salvage and turn into a chip van. They have absolutely no idea as to how to run a such a van, but do so anyway. The movie looks at how they struggle through their mateship in relation to the van.Larry (Colm Meanly) is a big mouthed know it all. It is his character that the movie is based around and he steals the scene in most of the movie. Bimbo is the owner of the van but he is pushed to the side with Larry's almost dominant character. The movie looks at the struggle that they go through and how their friendship begins to disintegrate with the van. Larry acts constantly without consulting Bimbo and this angers him greatly. Twice he hires family without even saying anything to Bimbo.There isn't much in the way to comment on this film for it really looks at life of two people in Ireland in the early '90's. Much of the things come out of the two characters and how we watch the friendship fall apart. It is an interesting movie in the way a couple of things are conducted, such as when the van is rolled back to Bimbo's house and a huge crowd follows them, signifying a new start to their seemingly meaningless life.Much of the trouble can be seen with the way Larry treats the privilege of working with Bimbo in the van. He is stubborn and sulks. When given a wage he begins to play union with Bimbo. He treats customers with disrespect and finds himself in trouble numerous times. We shouldn't feel good that our life is not like theirs, but rather look at them and learn about how we are responsible for what happens to us. We shouldn't go pushing others around and then complain that they don't like us, rather we should just not push others around, and if we do, then accept the consequences.

gpeevers Colm Meaney returns for the third time in Roddy Doyle's 'Barrytown' trilogy as Larry the father of a Dublin family, he is currently unemployed and lacking prospects when his close friend Bimbo also loses his job. But Bimbo has a plan, the two will partner up to operate a chip van and take advantage of the upcoming 1990 World Cup when no one will have any time to cook, their enterprise will be known as 'Bimbo's Burgers'. Starting off with filthy rundown and engine less van they have their triumphs and their squabbles but always with their families close by.It's a nice slice of life story about friendship, with some wonderful funny moments, this was the type of film Britain did so well in this era, no spectacular effects just a good story, a good cast and a solid production. The film also features music by Eric Clapton.The Barrytown trilogy from Roddy Doyle also included "The Commitments" and "The Snapper". Both "The Van" and "The Snapper" were directed by Stephen Frears perhaps best known now for "The Queen" for which he received an Oscar nomination, he was also nominated for "The Grifters". While both of these films are definitely worth watching, the best of the three by far is "The Commitments" which was directed by Alan Parker.

jthomas7193 I love movies set in Ireland and Colm Meaney is great. This is a fun movie, with humor and an interesting angle on life in Ireland. Colm was in another movie made from this author's work, The Snapper, and that was a howler. This movie is a must for fan's of Irish movies.

valadas This is the story of two men belonging to the the Irish working class who after being sacked decide to start a business with a van for making and selling hamburgers and the like stuff. After a while their mutual relationship turns into a boss-employee one and things began to become worse until because friendship is thicker than money they began again to get well along with each other. The story is told in a half serious half funny way. It's very simple but not the less deep because of that. It's full of amusing episodes and details of everyday life but its very true, authentic and realistic.