Parked : Life on Hold

I had mixed feelings about sitting down to watch Parked, a film about an older Irish man who decides (for reasons not quite explained) to return to his native Ireland after living in England, to live in his car.  

The story: An older old Irishman, Fred Daly, played by Colm Meaney of Hell on Wheels fame, has taken up residence in his car, which he has parked along the waterfront in a mostly empty lot. Shortly into his stay, he meets a 21-year-old stoner who is also living out of his car, and the two begin to develop a friendship. 

Having lived in my own vehicle for years now, the movie definitely hits on some of the frustrations and struggle of trying to make a life from within a car.   

Fred is an amiable sort, clinging to normality in a less-than-normal situation, while Colin Morgan does a great job of being playing a junkie with a good heart, who more or less has adapted to the misery. 

There is something comforting about seeing struggles I've faced living in my own, being something people are dealing with (and have been dealing with) not only here in the U.S, but across the pond, and basically across the globe.  There is also a sadness to that as well, as it seems I see more and more people "making due" in their cars all over this country.  

All and all the movie has its moments that endear you to the protagonists, but there is little to endear to this brand of struggle.  Like the title suggests, the cars are parked,  but so are the people.  They are in a state of arrested development.  

Parked would of been better if it simply stuck to the examination of car-living and poverty, but of course a bunch of gangsters show up and it quickly turns into a an action movie, which I think cheapens what could of been a solid message on this important issue.

It's not a bad film, but it drags at times. 

Although it's nice to see Meaney play a character other than a raging bastard, it's not enough to save the film from the melancholy themes.  

 

MY RATING 6.0