THE CALLBACK QUEEN by Graham Cantwell

The Callback Queen was hailed as one of the most anticipated premieres taking place at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh, also because of director Graham Cantwell’s affinity and history with the festival which began when he swept up the Tiernan McBride award for Best Short Film in 2003 with the wonderful A Dublin Story, which revealed him an Irish filmmaking talent worthy of being nurtured.  

His new film follows the life of a young Irish actress, Kate Loughlin (Amy-Joyce Hastings), whose attempts to break into the London circuit have never been quite as successful as she hoped. We are first introduced to her character as she is mercilessly turned down by the director of a toothpaste commercial. Her agent even informs her that she has been getting a reputation as a ‘callback queen’, always making the auditions but never getting called back for the part. He even suggests to her, quite bluntly, that she should consider the Marilyn method of sleeping with the producers as a way of achieving the success that she is seeking.

Despite the let downs, Kate refuses to break down and keeps chasing that dream showing up at the numerous casting calls and ends up auditioning for a role in the upcoming film by Oscar winning director Vincent Catalano (Mark Kileen), who is planning a blockbuster in the vein of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He instantly feels a connection with the young actress. He not only considers her for the leading female role, but also follows her around as she works with a group of young filmmakers making an experimental graduation film.

Cantwell certainly gets his laughs, especially when he allows himself to indulge his film with an unmistakable brand of Irish humour. Perhaps the funniest of his reoccurring gags in this film is represented by the cultural contrast between the Irish student filmmaker Daithi and his British cinematographer girlfriend Joanne (Kate Braithwaite), whose constant digs at each other for their political backgrounds develops into hilarious sexual tension and even bizarre role-plays; the whole comedic situation between the two is further strengthened by the introduction of Daithi’s blatantly Nationalist mother, who makes no secret of the fact that she is not fond of his son being involved with a Brit.

Nevertheless, it’s equally disappointing to see Cantwell make a wide use of two dimensional characters and brainless stereotypes including a Russian character who seems to have been moulded out of the Dolph Lundgren’s Drago from Rocky IV. This, of course, in turn leads to clichéd gags seen time and time again in goofball comedies, and it’s an approach that distances The Callback Queen from a more intelligent and satirical approach; the approach that would have made it more interesting and rewarding. Much can also be said about the quality of the acting which is ironic considering the thematic setting of the film. A severe lack of chemistry between the actors also shows in the scenes where the comedy should make way for the more emotional scenes, which ultimately makes the romantic aspect of the plot seem a little silly and naïve as well as the whole second part of the film lacking energy and urgency.

The Callback Queen also lightly touches on the theme of emigration, however there is also a feeling that perhaps the vibrant and occasionally stuck up artistic community of London is not examined very faithfully – in other words this film could have been set anywhere, the cultural context matters little more and the importance of the setting only goes as far as contributing a few nice shots with the London cityscape dominating the background.

Essentially, however, The Callback Queen is a rom com on par with the vast majority of the more expensive counterparts, with all its pros and cons. It is quite remarkable hence that Cantwell was able to do make it all come together with a much smaller budget. Another thing that is admirable is the way in which he is able to give his characters their moments to shine and at least one stand out gag each. Regardless of the fact that this film is undeniably shallow and a mostly lacking in intelligence, it’s still an enjoyable piece of light hearted entertainment.

-          Matt Micucci, 10/7/2013