They were afraid they looked like "born-again bikers" as they sat in the trendy IFC bar in Dublin's Temple Bar. Henry O'Neill, CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, sat sheepishly beside his wife, Catherine, a philosophy lecturer. "In my suit I stick out like a sore thumb," he said, explaining that he had just come from the office to the screening of The War Zone, the new Tim Roth film. Serious film buffs were in strong evidence. Parisian Martine Moreau, arts officer with the French Embassy, said she goes to "about 150 to 200 films a year." Her two friends from Dublin, accountant David Corcoran and office manager Paul Soden, both nodded that they do too. Some people, they felt, "think we are a bit strange but we're no stranger than anybody else".
Two more Roth fans, Dublin brothers banker Matt Murray, clad in denim, and chef Fintan Murray, wearing a baseball cap, were eager to see Roth's first film as director. "For a guy of his talent," said Matt, "it'll be interesting to see." Later, some viewers found the film, which deals with incest, too difficult to watch and left before the end.