DVD Review: The Tiger’s Tail

You gotta love the lottery. Especially the UK Lottery Council. They produce movies. And why shouldn’t they? They have the money to do so! One movie in particular is The Tiger’s Tail, a modest and entertaining enough way to spend the better part of two hours and see the great Brendan Gleeson in two roles.

Liam O’Leary (Gleeson) is one of Dublin’s biggest entrepreneurs. But will his current scheme to build a new National Stadium is having difficulties getting off the ground. Will his whole plan go south? Will his good name survive if it does? Things are looking pretty tough. His home life is a bit of a wreck, too: he’s become very distant with his wife Jane (Kim Cattrall) and his son Connor (Briain Gleeson) is a devout member of the Communist Party. To make matters worse, a mysterious double (also Gleeson) walks into the picture, intent on taking over his life. As it turns out , his double is actually his twin brother, whose existence he had no knowledge of. This leads the powerful figure to discover the long-obscured truth from his mother and sister — and it might just change his way of life in the process.

At best, The Tiger’s Tail is a shallow film. The performances are dear enough, but the story seems to fly by at times without really ever reaching for reality. Several tiny subplots in the film are quickly brushed aside, making way for a number of story flaws that will no doubt cause many moviegoers to say, “Hang on a minute!” The movie also seems to shift gears: it starts out as a bit of a psychological thriller, but by the time the end credits role, it has turned into a lighthearted drama that you’d expect to find on Lifetime.

Since Fox Home Entertainment sent me a watermarked DVD-R screener copy of the film, I am unable to give you any sort of fair account on the audio or video aspects. The movie is presented in a widescreen ratio — I can tell you that much for certain — and a 5.1 soundtrack with English (SDH) subtitles. No special features were on my copy, apart from a few trailers at the beginning of the disc.

In the end, one wonders if the UK Lottery Council rushed this 2006-made motion picture through as a tax dodge. Nevertheless, The Tiger’s Tail accomplished what it set out to do: keep the viewer viewing (well, in my case, at least).