gregking4 A couple of years ago, Ken Loach withdrew his film Looking For Eric from MIFF in protest at the Israeli funding of the Festival, but this year he seems quite content to leave his latest film alone. Route Irish is more of a political thriller about murder, conspiracy, cover-ups, and revenge, although it is still suffused with Loach's usual angry world view and social consciousness. Written by Loach's regular collaborator Paul Laverty, Route Irish takes aim at the private security contractors who are profiting from the war in Iraq, the "cowboys" whose behaviour is not regulated by military discipline or codes of conduct. Loach doesn't pull; his punches in examining the role played by private mercenaries in the ongoing and unpopular war. Like Paul Haggis' In The Valley Of Elah this is a topical film that is critical of the war in Iraq and the murky political agendas that drive it. The title refers to that stretch of road in Iraq that runs from Baghdad airport to the allied "green zone", and which is regarded as the most dangerous road in the world. When former SAS soldier Fergus (Mark Womack, a veteran of British television) learns of the death of his best friend Frankie (stand-up comic John Bishop) caused by an IED along that road, he refuses to accept the official version. Refusing to believe that it was a simple case of "being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Fergus sets out to uncover the truth. He believes that his friend's death was a deliberate attempt to cover up a massacre of civilians by contractors. Cinematographer Chris Menges has filmed in Liverpool and Jordan, doubling for Iraq, which lends an authenticity to the material. The film is full of Loach's usual signature touches – hand held camera, naturalistic approach, seemingly ad-libbed dialogue and a scathing howl of outrage against injustice. As the central character Womack delivers an intense and angry performance, and he spends a lot of time shouting his sometimes incomprehensible dialogue. Route Irish is his most topical film for some time, and has the same sense of urgency as his earlier political thriller Hidden Agenda. While it may not be amongst Loach's best films, Route Irish is still powerful stuff!

rtaron If you want a movie that will hold your attention and leave you feeling like you've watched a great movie, this is it. I am not a connoisseur of Ken Loach, or a movie snob, I just enjoy a movie that holds my attention.Unlike the other reviewers, I thought the characters were well-drawn and convincing. The effects used on the film itself such as graininess, washed out lomo effect, and darkness in the right places, makes this a pleasure to watch.The over-use of the f-bomb is a real factor. Men do talk exactly like that, but for a film less would have been more.The politics of the mercenary world are shown brilliantly and without any sense of preachiness or one-sidedness.Just an excellent movie.

antoniotierno Many movies are political but just a few directors are as consciously political film-maker like Ken Loach. This work hasn't got a clear left-wing agenda like others but it's his point on the Iraki war and handles subjects discussed upon many occasions, such as the exploitation of the unemployed and war crimes. Aside from the original (in Loach's films) issue, Route Irish is a characteristic production of this director and has many grim sequences. There are also very good acting performances that keep pace with the progress of the story. The conclusion is shocking but on the whole the film is a didactic and angry thriller, in the typical style of the social realist Loach.

Dharmendra Singh I almost don't want to be too honest about Ken Loach's latest. He is a national treasure after all. But then I remember what my job here is. 'Route Irish' is different from any other Loach film I've seen. Half the story is set in Iraq (Jordan), and uses techniques more typical of a Blockbuster. Route Irish was, during the Iraq war, believed to be quite literally the most dangerous road in the world, where suicide bombings, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and other nasties were commonplace. Disbelieving that his best friend and army buddy, Frankie (comedian John Bishop) was KIA, Liverpudlian Fergus (Mark Womack) vows to get to the truth. Frankie, says Fergus, 'was born lucky'. If you can forgive this soupçon of implausibility from which the story emanates, you can enjoy (parts of) the film.Twenty-four hour news makes us immune to the carnage of war. We tuck into our cornflakes while yawning at Apocalypse Now-style footage. Here, Ken Loach personalises war. He's always used film as a political medium to mirror his Left-leaning views. But there's a distinctly pluralistic advocacy on display in this film. Iraqis are at once sympathised with and blamed. The role of a soldier is both defended and upbraided. And the use of private contractors in the 'war on terror' is equally shielded and condemned. The only bits that are worthy of Loach are the scenes of tension, for instance when Fergus explains to Rachel (Frankie's partner) that of course Frankie played around: 'Every day out there (Iraq) could be the last – how can you go from that to shopping at Tesco?'. For such a kindly codger, Loach has quite a tolerance for profanity. The 'f' word doesn't bother me, but it's overdoing it a bit when you put the likes of Tarantino to shame. As the peerless critic Roger Ebert said of another film, 'profanity is used as punctuation'. Strangely, a full-on waterboarding torture scene has no more terror than an exploding party popper. Clearly not destined to bother the Russian roulette scene from 'The Deer Hunter'. It's in tune with the general tone of the film: big ambitions, too little follow-through.Various technical points distracted me from an otherwise half-decent melodrama. Fergus casually lets slip that he's ex-SAS. That would imply he's a man of considerable resourcefulness. So why can't he himself extract video clips from Frankie's primitive mobile phone to establish how he died? And why does he need to conduct online conference calls to amateurs for information? What's stopping him from Andy McNabbing his own way into Iraq? www.scottishreview.net