Omagh

Format : Color, DVD, NTSC
Publisher : Sundance Channel Home Entertainment
Company : Hart Sharp Video
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Product Description

Terrorism devastates the peaceful Northern Irish town of Omagh in 1998 when a car bomb planted by a dissident faction of the IRA explodes, killing 31 people, including the young son of Michael Gallagher (Gerard McSorley). The gripping true story of Gallagher's grief and subsequent struggle as the leader of a support group of victims' families forms the basis of this powerful, heartbreaking drama. Michele Forbes, Brenda Fricker and Stuart Graham also star. 102 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital stereo; theatrical trailer; more.

Amazon.com

The August 15, 1998 terrorist bombing in the Northern Ireland town of Omagh that killed 29 and injured hundreds of others is the raison d'etre for director Pete Travis's movie of the same name. But the bulk of this moving, beautifully-made film is devoted to the aftermath of the bombing, and American viewers still reeling from the atrocities of 9/11/01 and the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina may well find those events to be not merely compelling but hauntingly familiar. There's little suspense here; indeed, we know what's going to happen from the opening credits, when we see the bomb being made and planted in a car parked on the town's busy main street. Thereafter, people like Michael Gallagher (a fine, low key performance by Gerard McSorley) and his family must first deal with the excruciating agony of losing a loved one. But when weeks pass without a single arrest having been made, Gallagher and others form a support group and ask a simple question: Why? Instead of anything resembling justice, what they encounter are a host of incompetent, slow-reacting politicians and other officials offering little more than smarmy evasions. And that's not even the worst of it; in the most harrowing echo of 9/11 and Katrina, the film suggests that the folks in charge may even have ignored explicit warnings that the bomb (which was the work of a group calling itself "the real Irish Republican Army") was coming. Dramatic and moving without being the least bit sappy or sentimental, Omagh is a riveting, relevant piece of work. --Sam Graham

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