The Last Bus Home

In writer-director Johnny Gogan's The Last Bus Home, purples, reds, and golds peek out through the dreary, gray Dublin sky at the young manager of a new-wave band, the Dead Patriots. For the rebellious and ambitious Reena (Annie Ryan), the bright colors are a promise of what lies beyond her drab city and her restricting life. When she tries to persuade the bandmates to move to London, though, she meets with resistance from her angry, stubborn, ultimately scared boyfriend Jessop (Brian O'Byrne), the band's lead singer. The couple soon draw the rest of the group into their conflict; the result is tragedy, painful personal growth, and louder music.

Gogan tries to show how a band can become like a family, especially when the musicians don't have real families to begin with. He largely succeeds, through creating strong characters who share similar situations but have very different ways of dealing with their fears and dreams. Unfortunately, Reena's close relationship to the band -- developed far too quickly and unconvincingly at the beginning -- creates a thin layer of disbelief throughout. Besides, the Patriots aren't that good. Screens at the Copley Place Thursday at 5:50, 7:50, and 9:50 p.m. and Friday at 11 a.m. and 1 and 3 p.m.

-- Mark Bazer

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