Features review - POISON PEN by Steven Benedict, Lorna Fitzsimmons and Jennifer Shortall

A highbrow writer's negligence costs him dearly after he is stuck in a job writing for a glossy London gossip magazine in Poison Pen, this year's Filmbase production directed by Steven Benedict, Lorna Fitzsimmons and Jennifer Shortalls and shown at the 59th Cork Film Festival.
 
In an age of fast paced social media gossipping, a film about the printed press inevitably always recalls the days of old when virtually one in two screwball romantic comedies has press people as their leading characters from It Happened One Night to His Girl Friday. Add to that the leading character who was once a promising young literary genius now forced to live off his reputation and accepet posts that could have been beneath him, and you can add works such as La Dolce Vita and The Great Beauty to the long list of films that could be - and have been - referenced in a review for Poison Pen, the film that a group of students of Dublin's Filmbase have managed to ambitiously bring together this year.

 

The story is that of an afore mentioned writer archetype, who ends up trapped inside a post as a gossip writer for the despicable titular magazine. In order to get out of this predicament, he figures out that if he charms his editor in chief, the frowining upon of such romancing in the workplace might lead to his freedom. Predictably, he falls in love. Admittedly, there is nothing original whatsoever about the premise or the structure of the film. This does not prevent Poison Pen, however, form being highly enjoyable. This is due to the central performances and in particular that of leading man Lochlainn O'Mearain, who is more than willing to let loose and add a little old time slapstick physical comedy and goofing around antics to his routine, whilst retaining a charming and charismatic facade. Surprising to think that this is, in fact, his feature debut.
 
The script even has time for a few snappy zings that, particularly in the first part, and for a few moments we can be forgiven for quiting the black and white classics of Frank Capra and Howard Hawks...but only for a moment (we could have inserted a zing of our own considering a certain someone's presence in the writing credits that could possibly have a lot in common with the film's central narrative figure). Small subplots involving the writer's daughter and a bunch of whacky side characters working in the magazine's headquarters add layers of comedy and emotional depth, and while the satire on modern press neither barks nor bites it provides a good back drop for the set up of some entertaining sequences. On top of that, it may be a technicality to think that a film with three directors already seems like a challenge on its own and an 'academic' choice that kind of rids the film of any possible stylistic choice, we can praise the production team for keeping it all together in the end and making sure that the end product could meet enjoyable standards that even have potential to readily answer the challenge of monthly similar Hollywood productions.