The Problem with People Review

Ireland has been the setting of excellent films of late. Personable conflict is its bread and butter though The Problem with People, written by and starring Paul Reiser, takes some shortcuts. Familiar fallouts are made the most of in this Colm Meaney-featuring piece, which spars well with Reiser in a decent piece of work. Dependable creativity from two long-serving members of the screen, neither man given their chance to shine in a lead role. Now is their shot. To play ball with the fundamentals of what makes one man tick over and why another would go out of their way to push all the wrong buttons. The Problem with People is an exceptional anti-family film that will have audiences either appreciating their own more or relating to the anger between Ciáran (Meaney) and Barry (Reiser).  

The Problem with People has a few problems but nothing that will derail the spirited lead performances. These are two men with capable supporting presence, looking for a way to breach the top spot in their twilight years. It works. That embittered back-and-forth works well between the pair. Ironically it takes a great deal of chemistry for this spat to work, the headbutting of two worlds is presented more as two men throwing their problems at one another, trying to exorcise their self-hatred at a sudden target. It works well. Reiser has written up a strong batch of punchy family drama bullet points and for the most part, The Problem with People is fantastic fun. As light as it is, there is a sweet side to The Problem with People that rarely gets a look-in now. It has a simple flourish to it, performed effectively time and again. There is not much more to it than that, and there does not have to be.  

While those first few awkward encounters are not truly a basis for conflict, it is the later moments, the inevitable one-upmanship of visiting Yank and homegrown Irishman, that makes the most of this dynamic. Those supporting characters who welcome Barry have a bit of The Wicker Man to them, obsessed by the appearance of a newcomer to their soil. But there is no sinister momentum to it, just wrongly placed excitement. Therein lies the interesting core of The Problem with People. It is not hatred for your fellow man out of resentment or spite, but because of a difference in class. High lives and everyday strengths are completely different depending on the country – and the divide between Barry and Ciáran is birthed out of fundamental differences.  

Should you ever need an excuse to visit Ireland, let it be a teary, wine-led watch of Local Hero. Of course, the narrative would get nowhere if there were no conflict. What starts as relative differences soon spurns into opportunity. It may be tricky to feel much sympathy for either man by the end of it, but such is the point of a neutral in conflict. Whatever our roots may be, it is always a chance to find a new family – though this does very much feel like what happens when an American traces their roots back to Ireland and tries to become one of the clan, whatever that may be. Whatever the case there is enough romance crowbarred into this to keep The Problem with People light, breezy and fun.