Alan in Belfast: The Last Rifleman – emotionally pitch-perfect with a strong backstory and filled with the kindness of strangers (Sky Cinema) #bff23

In 2004, a patient absconded from his English nursing home and travelled across to attend the 70th anniversary D-Day commemorations in Normandy. Bernard Jordan’s escapade inspired a number of screenplays. One was the debut feature script by Kevin Fitzpatrick which has recently been released as The Last Rifleman.

This fictionalised reimagining transports the action to Northern Ireland where Artie Crawford (Pierce Brosnan) lives in a care home. When his wife Maggie (Stella McCusker) dies, he decides to take care of some unfinished business and travels to Normandy for the first time to pay his respect to the fallen 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles.

There are many reasons why this should not work as a film.

It could be something akin to a travelling home for Christmas travel disaster movie … of which there are many and I despise them all. It could be relying on stiff-upper lip patriotism – of which I’m not a huge fan – to stimulate emotion. It could be laced with schmaltz and ridicule the actions and difficulties of a plucky nonagenarian. It could resort to pulling emotional heartstrings like a horror film engineering a series of jump scares.

Despite all those fears, The Last Rifleman works, and works well.

The script very slowly reveals a devastating backstory that explains Artie’s motivation for travelling. The kindness of strangers – in particular, a series of intergenerational accomplices – rescue him every time he stumbles in his journey. Artie’s confusion at not being able to locate anyone else from his old regiment makes sense like a punch in the gut (he didn’t have the advantage of the film’s title ahead of time). A significant act of remembrance is very sensitively shot.

And in amongst the seriousness of his quest, there’s a lot of humour with another care home resident (Ian McElhinney) turning into a PR supremo and Tara Lynne O’Neill giving a lot of side-eye, pursed lips, and under-the-breath insults as a member of staff. Clémence Poésy is super as the French mother on the ferry who still has some esprit de la Résistance in her blood.

To be honest, I struggle to place Brosnan’s accent. Born in Drogheda, he also lived in Meath, but playing 92-year-old Artie, he sounds like he’s somewhere between the US, Scotland with a touch of Dublin, delivering lines that are very Bell-fast, so he is. The saving grace is that for long periods, he doesn’t have to say a lot, so instead we learn to track Artie by groans and heavy breathing. (Mamma Mia fans will want to know that at one point Brosnan sings … and it’s not awful this time.)

I cry easily in the cinema, but last night I wept buckets. It was of considerable relief that the person in the next seat had also developed a bit of a sniffle and the lights stayed off during the credits. Early on, Terry Loane’s skillful direction conveys a powerful feeling of grief in Artie’s last moments with his darling Maggie. It defines the measure of the film’s lead character and brands Artie into audience hearts from that point on.

Watching the gala screening of The Last Rifleman last night as part of Belfast Film Festival and just a few days ahead of Armistice Day, my mind quickly wandered to thinking about war, the conflict in Gaza and Israel, and in Ukraine. At this time of year, I tend to wear a red and a white poppy. It a conversation starter rather than instantly offending people. I want to remember all those who died in wars. I’m not ideological enough to be a pacifist. But I’m never going to be drawn into labelling so-called sides as all good or all bad, morally upright or totally wrong. There are at least some regrettable actions on all sides. There are good people trapped in circumstances from which they cannot or will not escape. Innocent people suffer everywhere. Artie meets a German soldier along the way who says: “It’s a shock to learn you’ve lost the war. It’s a greater shock to discover you’ve been on the wrong side.” For a few minutes, the film pauses and considers that war isn’t simple in a beautifully awkward encounter.

If I could change one thing, I would drop the final scene which includes real veterans along with the cast. I don’t think I needed to know what happened next after Normandy, though it does allow the pipes to play!

The Last Rifleman is currently showing on Sky Movies Premiere. It looks great on a big cinema screen and it’s a shame there doesn’t seem to be an opportunity for even a limited local release.