The act of forgiveness has always been mercurial at best for me. When I was younger, if someone broke my trust or crossed me I would wipe them out of my life. Just like deleting data from a disk or setting fire to the film negatives of all the memories I had of them; I would never think about them again. These days I have had some success on being a forgiving person. Inspired by real life individuals, this Sundance Film Festival winning movie dealt with the powerful acts of forgiveness, redemption and revenge. Alistair Little joined the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) at a young age. The time was during the conflict in Northern Ireland and Alistair’s goal was to kill a Catholic. The victim’s little brother witnessed the whole murder. Fast forward to a peaceful time and the media came up with a marketing idea to have the younger brother and killer meet and shake hands as a true sign of peace in the country. It was from this point that this film really worked for me. The adult Alistair was played by Liam Neeson (The Grey, Wrath of the Titans) and the surviving brother Joe Griffen was played by James Nesbitt (Coriolanus, Match Point). These two men took the intense script and added a knock out emotional punch to it. Mr. Nesbitt was riveting as he dealt with his red hot anger for revenge. I was glued to my television screen as each man dealt with their demons and thoughts on meeting once again. There was one quick bloody scene in the beginning of this dramatic film.

2 3/4 stars — DVD