[Movie] My take on The Van (1996)

Plot

This is an Irish comedy from the mid-90s combining elements of sarcasm, hard realism, and everyday situations.

Two friends are drinking at the pub, and one of them tells the other that he’s just been made redundant.

The other guy, who has already been long unemployed, tries to comfort him, and they end up getting drunk in the company of other friends.

One of those friends shows the two guys an abandoned and wrecked van, and the recently-redundant man comes up with the idea for restoring the van and using it to run a mobile catering business with the help of his best friend.

Standing by your best friend

Best friends can argue, disagree, and even fight, over many things, but whatever happens, they stay best friends and support each other no matter what.

Larry (Colm Meaney) and Bimbo (Donal O’Kelly) definitely know something about the true meaning of friendship.

When Bimbo has his mobile catering van idea, he immediately gives Larry an opportunity to finally get out of unemployment by working with him at the van.

They may not be exactly the same characters, but they get the job done one way or another, and they surely enjoy each other’s company.

Money and success can destroy even the strongest friendships

At times of economic hardship, when people struggle to survive financially and make ends meet, they tend to support each other more.

They instinctively feel that, together, they can overcome hurdles more easily than each of them fighting on their own.

Once the storm is over, they start to believe that they can stand on their own feet without help from other people.

All of a sudden, differences appear out of nowhere, minor disagreements are amplified and exaggerated, and all the hard work goes down the drain, just like when Bimbo ends up abandoning his van in the ebbs and tides of the sea.

Behind every great man is a great woman

It is highly doubtful whether our heroes would ever be able to start and run their mobile catering business without help from their wives.

Maggie (Ger Ryan) and Mary (Caroline Rothwell) are always there for their husbands, whatever life throws at them.

Equipped with tons of patience, they may turn a blind eye, even when their husbands think of going with other women.

This is not just patience.

It’s deep love, devotion, affection, and strength that are slowly built in a relationship with time, and it’s what makes their men coming back to them after their boyish adventures.

Nothing beats community spirit

A strong community spirit that supports a local business like the mobile catering van in this movie is essential for business success.

The whole community carried the new catering van literally on its shoulders right from the beginning, when everyone pushed the van and kids ran behind it.

At the end of the day, it’s how you treat people.

You have to accept your customers as they are, and not try to change them.

You can’t just pick or find better customers, or better friends or workers or partners.

These are the people that will keep your cash register full and your business alive, also keeping you out of unemployment and poverty, and only a strong community can achieve that.

Rating: 80/100

Originally posted through scrobble.life/movies.