Emer McCourt Movies
A group of British youths try to escape their pointless, hum-drum lives with weekends of drug-fueled debauchery in the comedy Human Traffic. Jip (John Simm) works at a shop selling jeans, and his best friend Koop (Shaun Parkes) is an aspiring hip-hop artist who has a day job at a record store. Nina (Nicola Reynolds), Koop's girlfriend, is employed at a burger joint; her best friend is Lulu (Lorraine Pilkington), who has a uniformly low opinion of men. Moff (Danny Dyer) is a waste-case who lives with his father and deals drugs to the group. Come Friday evening, Moff supplies the Ecstasy, the six friends head out to the club, and they spend the next 48 hours playing the popular game "Annihilate This Week." Human Traffic was the directorial debut for filmmaker Justin Kerrigan, who reportedly had problems raising financing due to the film's refusal to explicitly condemn the use of drugs or the actions of its protagonists. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Simm, Lorraine Pilkington, (more)
- 1995
- R
In Britain, when bored street punks go on violent destructive sprees late at night through local yards and neighborhoods it is called a "Boston kickout." Combining elements of humor, gritty realism, and drama, this youthful film, set in dismal Stevenage, a hastily built post-war town where unemployment and despair runs rampant and the youth, bored and without hope for the future, engage in violent crime and drug use. Under these conditions, four teenage friends struggle to somehow make their way to manhood and a better future. Much of the story centers on Phil, a young man living with his father Ray and the grim memory of his mother's 1982 suicide in London. It was young Phil who found her hanging from a rope at the top of the stairs. Soon afterward, to escape the awful memory, Ray moved them to the suburb. That was years ago and now Phil hangs out with his best mate Ted and tries to figure out what to do with his life. Ted tires of their aimless, empty lives, rebels and leaves after a violent incident. Lonely Phil begins hanging out with Matt and Steve. Matt has recently married and doesn't seem to mind the stultifying life in Stevenage while Steve is emotionally unstable and ready to fall apart. Before the arrival of Shona, his lovely Irish cousin, Phil contemplates what he sees as his two life options, college with its hollow promise of a job, or a life of crime. Shona thinks he has talent as a photographer and encourages him as they embark upon a brief romantic fling. Just when Phil begins to dream of a better life, his bereaved father attempts to kill himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Simm, Emer McCourt, (more)
- 1991
In this film, a teenage Irish Catholic girl, Goretti (Emer McCourt) falls in love as only a 15-year-old can, and is carried away by the power of her feelings. Innocent teenage worries over boyfriends, girlfriends, and peer standing provide a context for Goretti's life before she falls in love. She soon defies the restrictions of her upbringing, and, because contraception is forbidden by her religious belief, she discovers that she is pregnant. Her lover cannot face the responsibility of fatherhood -- he writes her so from prison, where he was sent by the British soldiers after being accused of a crime he did not commit. Abortion is out of the question. Although Goretti has the support of her best friend and confidant, a downward spiral begins as she cannot face her Catholic family with the truth of her condition. Goretti seems to be waging a losing battle against a culture itself in conflict, as the presence of the British soldiers makes clear. This excellent exploration of a young girl's broader identity assumes an increasingly bleak and dark mood, as the story of Goretti unfolds on all levels. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emer McCourt
- 1991
- R
Screenwriter Hanif Kureishi marked his directorial debut in this slice-of-life chronicle about a collection of drug-dealing slackers in London. Centering on a band of delinquents calling themselves "the posse," the group is led by an ambitious male hustler named Muffdiver (Steven Mackintosh). His friend, Mr. Clint Eastwood (Justin Chadwick), begins to wonder about Muffdiver when he announces that he will no longer sell drugs for the gang. But soon Clint is wondering about himself, and after being beaten and stripped naked, he decides to go legitimate and look for a real job. He applies to a chic restaurant for a job as a waiter. The owner, Hemingway (Brad Dourif), promises to hire him if he comes back to the restaurant wearing a good pair of shoes. Obsessed with landing the job, he tries any way he can to get the pair of shoes. Impressed by the efforts of Clint and Muffdiver to get normal jobs, Sylvie (Emer McCourt), a drug addict who lives with the two, is inspired to leave the street life behind herself and pursue a more ordinary vocation. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Justin Chadwick, Steven Mackintosh, (more)
- 1991
Socialist-leaning British director Ken Loach kicked off a decade's worth of acclaimed cinema with this surprisingly comic tale of working class laborers at a North London building site, written by Bill Jesse, a real-life construction worker who died before the film's release. Scottish ex-con Stevie (Robert Carlyle) finds work on a non-union crew converting a hospital into luxury condos. Like most of his coworkers, Stevie is homeless and finds a place to live by squatting in an abandoned building. The crew is exploited by its supervisors and endures unsafe conditions, and pay is so low that the men use false names so that they won't have to pay taxes. Stevie discovers a lost handbag, and when he returns it to the owner, a spacey hopeful singer named Susan (Emer McCourt), he falls in love. He and Susan are soon living together -- then Stevie discovers that his girlfriend is a habitual drug user. Meanwhile, the most outspoken worker, Larry (Ricky Tomlinson) loses his job when he questions authority once too often. Loach cast only actors who had construction experience in the film, kicking off the career of Carlyle, who later surged to stardom in The Full Monty (1997). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Carlyle, Emer McCourt, (more)
