The Listener
  • The Listener home
  • The Listener E-edition
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Health & nutrition
  • Arts & Culture
  • New Zealand
  • World
  • Consumer tech & enterprise
  • Food & drink

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • New Zealand
  • World
  • Health & nutrition
  • Consumer tech & enterprise
  • Art & culture
  • Food & drink
  • Entertainment
  • Books
  • Life

More

  • The Listener E-edition
  • The Listener on Facebook
  • The Listener on Instagram
  • The Listener on X

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Listener / Entertainment

Irish family feud comedy gets bogged down in cliches

Russell Baillie
By Russell Baillie
Arts & entertainment editor·New Zealand Listener·
9 Dec, 2024 04:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

At odds: Paul Reiser and Colm Meaney in The Problem With People. Photo / suuplied

At odds: Paul Reiser and Colm Meaney in The Problem With People. Photo / suuplied

Say this for The Problem with People, yet another tale of an American fish out of water in Ireland, you’ll never guess how it ends. Given it’s a story about distant cousins played by one-time Mad About You star Paul Reiser and Irish film fixture Colm Meaney meeting for the first time when the New Yorker comes to visit the old country, you might think it would involve the pair of them, given they dominate 95% of this underwhelming comedy. But no, the happily-ever-after feels like the pages from another, more interesting movie were shuffled into this one. It does make up for the complete lack of surprises elsewhere, though the brief homage to the 1983 Bill Forsyth film Local Hero, and its classic Ford Cortina is unexpected, especially given that film was set in Scotland.

Reiser (who co-wrote) plays Barry Gorman, a successful if strangely understaffed New York real estate guy who accepts an invitation to visit Meaney’s Ciaran Gorman, the village undertaker whose dying father wants a long-forgotten family feud – recapped in an animated sequence – reconciled before he shuffles off.

But that leads to another feud over an inheritance between the cousins, and the oirish locals of County Quirk take sides as the story heads to that blindside finale.

Along the way are lessons in Gaelic football and constant scenes of Barry urinating, which are amusing only if you imagine that Reiser agreed with an Irish script consultant that it would be a lot funnier if Barry had more moments having the piss taken out of him.

Rating out of five: ★★½

The Problem with People, directed by Chris Cottam, is in cinemas now.

Discover more

Thomasin McKenzie delivers a star turn as IVF pioneer in Joy

02 Dec 04:00 PM

Director Vincent Ward reflects as landmark NZ film turns 40

29 Nov 04:00 PM

Brit-rock icon's movie debut in sprawling WWII drama Blitz

30 Nov 05:00 PM

Colossal effort: Ridley Scott’s sequel to his Oscar winning Gladiator

15 Nov 04:00 PM
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Most popular

LISTENER
Winter is coming? The terrible years after a nuclear blast
World

Winter is coming? The terrible years after a nuclear blast

25 Jun 06:05 PM
LISTENER
Cat behaviour decoded: Why your cat scratches you, ignores you and plays hard to get
New Zealand

Cat behaviour decoded: Why your cat scratches you, ignores you and plays hard to get

22 Jun 06:00 PM
LISTENER
Do you really need to take that dietary supplement?
Health

Do you really need to take that dietary supplement?

25 Jun 06:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Listener

LISTENER
Do you really need to take that dietary supplement?

Do you really need to take that dietary supplement?

25 Jun 06:00 PM

Just because a supplement is available over the counter doesn’t make it safe or necessary.

LISTENER
Winter is coming? The terrible years after a nuclear blast

Winter is coming? The terrible years after a nuclear blast

25 Jun 06:05 PM
LISTENER
Dead Ahead: A Māori ghost story

Dead Ahead: A Māori ghost story

25 Jun 06:00 PM
LISTENER
Book of the day: The Bombshell by Darrow Farr

Book of the day: The Bombshell by Darrow Farr

25 Jun 06:00 PM
LISTENER
A dip into Listeners' past reveals a bygone age

A dip into Listeners' past reveals a bygone age

25 Jun 06:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Contact NZ Herald
  • Help & support
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
NZ Listener
  • NZ Listener e-edition
  • Contact Listener Editorial
  • Advertising with NZ Listener
  • Manage your Listener subscription
  • Subscribe to NZ Listener digital
  • Subscribe to NZ Listener
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotion and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • NZ Listener
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search