THE FIRE BURNS INSIDE

REVIEWED - INSIDE I'M DANCING: Damien O'Donnell's first feature shot in his home town of Dublin is an affecting blend of humanity and humour, writes Michael Dwyer

Inside I'm Dancing, which opened the 49th Cork Film Festival last Sunday night and goes on release today, is Damien O'Donnell's first feature set and shot on his Dublin home turf following his two engaging serious comedies in the north of England, East is East and Heartlands. O'Donnell's new film, his strongest and most affecting to date, is stamped with his trademark blending of humanity and humour as it brings together two young men in a residential home for the disabled.

Michael (Steven Robertson) has cerebral palsy and has effectively been abandoned by his widower father (Gerard McSorley), a senior counsel, to an indefinite stay at Carrigmore, which is described as "a special home for special people". Enter Rory (James McAvoy), a brash, coarse newcomer with muscular dystrophy, an abrasive attitude and an indomitable rebellious spirit.

Unlike anyone else at the home, Rory can understand what Michael is saying, and, as the two young men bond, Rory takes Michael under his wing - and out of the home into an able-bodied world that is poorly equipped for, and generally inconsiderate towards, people with physical differences and difficulties.

Working from an incisive screenplay by Jeffrey Caine, O'Donnell adeptly and sensitively explores the impediments faced by the disabled through lack of wheelchair access, social prejudice and condescension, and in satisfying their own sexual needs.

O'Donnell, whose work continues to grow both in maturity and in cinematic flair, has made a thoughtful, unpatronising and essentially unsentimental film that proves as touching as it is often unexpectedly, wildly funny, and achieved with insight, concern and a palpable sincerity.

It is graced with terrific performances - and dramatically crucial chemistry - between its two leading actors, Robertson, a remarkable newcomer, and McAvoy, the talented young Scottish actor from the TV series, Shameless and State of Play, seizing upon the potential of his first leading role for the cinema. Romola Garai brings a refreshingly natural quality to the young supermarket worker who wanders into their lives with cathartic results, and the formidable Irish supporting cast is on peak form.