The Journey  released 2017   94 mins

This fictionalised take on how Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness set aside sectarian hatred to pursue peace talks pitches Timothy Spall and Colm Meaney into odd-couple comedy while simultaneously tiptoeing on eggshells

The question it sets out to ask is perfectly valid: how on earth did the DUP veteran Rev Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness – those two mortal enemies – finally find a way of making peace and even working together very happily? There must surely have been some human spark between the two men, some bit of humanity untainted by sectarian ideology. Trying to imagine that spark is a good idea.

The drama imagines that half-way though the negotiations, Paisley had to make a long car journey to get to his 50th wedding anniversary party, and that for diplomatic reasons of protocol, to balance absences from the negotiation teams, and to answer Sinn Féin’s fear that an unaccompanied retreat to his heartland might sour Paisley on the deal, McGuinness has to accompany him. And while they are forcibly in each other’s company, the ice breaks.

PAYMENT VIA EFT TO STANDARD BANK CONSTANTIA ACCOUNT 202843882   YOUR NAME & “FILM” AS REFERENCE. PLEASE ADD R 40 FOR CASH OR CHEQUE DEPOSITS.  Phone 072 846 3724  or 021 713 0154