Off-Piste (2016) Online

I came to this film expecting to see a revenge movie with an ex SAS soldier remembering his training and skills to take out an avenging enemy. A bit like a budget version of any number of Hollywood blockbusters with INSERT ACTION STAR OF YOUR CHOICE with the enemy dispatched in a number of different, improvised ways. Well, if that's what you want to watch don't watch this film.

Other reviewers have said the Northern Irish accents are terrible - well they didn't jar with me, they were strong, presumably Belfast, accents so not a cod Irish accent like Tom Cruise's in Far Away.

A soldier did a terrible thing and has been suffering with the consequences ever since. He hides away in the mountains and seeks help from psychiatrists wanting them to wave a magic wand to absolve his sins but he seems to want to continue punishing himself.

An Irish girl goes to find him for revenge but it doesn't quite work out that way. Meanwhile her unstable, obsessed with her friend chases after her with his equally dangerous mate. Here the film gets slightly silly. The 2 Irish men find her very quickly, she spurns the obsessed one - again - and the 2 men make an unbelievable decision. Cue sequence of events which is probably what you thought the film was about anyway.

This may be a low budget film but it's done well. I've seen a lot of really, really terrible American films with bigger budgets which have dreadful scripts, awful CGI and are badly acted with known actors only doing it for the pay cheque. This film isn't perfect but it's not dreadful either.

This film is about revenge and understanding. Wanting to die and wanting to live. It's about humanity.

Luckily I downloaded this tripe so didn't part with any money. What a complete shambles of a film. The main actor actually isn't all that bad he just let down by a crap script.

As another reviewer has mentioned the Irish accents are terrible and the female lead really needs to give up the acting lark!

Stay away Read a book Do the washing go shopping or put this on to fall asleep to!

I need to write 10 lines for this review I think I have spent long enough on this but need to do my duty and steer you all away from this dross!

A moving and well done film unless you are distracted by the apparently poor Irish accents. Some of the constructs are a bit stretched but nothing like 99% of other films out right now. A mix of suspense, sadness and reflections on life, different from my expectation of a more typical action movie.

Looking at the cover of "Off Piste", you're expecting a pure survival movie full of action and chases in a French snowy landscape. That's not the case. It's rather a psychological drama in which processing a traumatic experience is the central theme. First we meet Stanley Winters (Henry Douthwaite) who during a military raid on a local pub, where I.R.A. members were discussing something, accidentally shot the young son of one of these members. And then there's Niamh O'Brien (Lara Lemon) who witnessed the death of her younger brother and father that evening as a young girl. Both are struggling with the past. Stanley stows away his military combat uniform after this incident and moves to the French Alps where he'll live with his blind mother (Yvonne O'Grady) in a remote mountain cabin. There he tries to find inner peace.

As Niamh discovers the real truth about the death of her father and brother, she leaves Ireland confidently and travels to the French mountain village. The further progress of the story seems to be evident. You can only guess what motives Niamh has to find those responsible. Is it to avenge her loss? A revenge because her life ended up in a series of depressions? Or is it because she wants to deal with the past and finally be able to leave it all behind? That the person who took care of her afterwards still has a dossier lying around about Winters, is an indication about the unlikely and the sometimes nonsensical events.

I liked the psychological aspect and thought it was interesting enough. Stanley struggling with his inner demons and using a female psychiatrist (who displays more uncertainties than her patient) to channel his recovery. Even Stanley's mother tries to get her son back on the right path so that he rediscovers the meaning of life. That's why she acts like a mother hen, the moment Niamh arrives. As a true matchmaker she tries to hook them up. She isn't aware of the dreadful link that connects the two.

What's the flaw in this film you wonder? The absurdity of the two idiotic Irish guys, traveling headlong to the French Alps. Ethan (Jared Fortune) , because he believes that he sees himself as the fiancée of Niamh and he finds it hard to bear that she's looking for another man. And then there's Logan (Paul McGuinness). He's just in it because he has probably nothing else to do. They arrive at the French village like two genuine Irish hooligans. Ethan confronts Niamh with the fact that she first had to consult with him. A bit later he clears off like a beaten dog after she made it perfectly clear to him what their relationship is about. The resulting response is so excessive that the credibility of the whole film is brought down. If these two skirts hunters have experienced many rejections in their homeland, I fear the female part of the population was decimated in number. I've always said that foam-free, warm beer is fatal for human brain cells.

So despite the beautiful renditions of Henry Douthwaite and Yvonne O'Grady, "Off Piste" reasonably far-fetched. I understand that without the intervention of Etahn and Logan the complete movie would be kind of banal with just scenes of two traumatized souls. But as I said before, the motivation for their intervention is totally whacked. Even the ultimate action from Stanley is in terms of coincidence grossly exaggerated. Regrettable. Because eventually I found the underlying issue extremely interesting.

More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT

The DVD cover gives the impression that this is a one-man revenge story, but you will be surprised as to who is really out for revenge, and what the cost of that will be.

The two central characters lives are torn apart after a British soldier kills a young boy during an IRA meeting raid. Years later the soldier is in seclusion still trying to come to terms with what he did. Meanwhile the boy's older sister, now a woman, seeks the soldier out.

Both actors bring a quiet humanity to their roles and as the layers of hate and imagined monsters start to peel away what could have been a simple story develops into a more complex exploration of the struggle for forgiveness; to yourself and to others.

Beautifully shot on location, with some stunning aerial photography. It is the two main actors who hold the attention Henry Douthwaite is compelling fighting his inner demons. And it says everything that the wonderful Lara Lemon has won a Best Supporting Actress Award for this film, heartbreakingly displaying the struggle between a need for revenge and the growing realisation that this will not bring her happiness.

An impressive project made on a small budget. Give it a watch if you want to see some great upcoming talent before they become big stars.

I was sorry to read the negative review ,bad accents ,sas or not , but for me those were not important at all for the story .

A beautiful construct about human fallibility and forgiveness and how the world is not black or white.

We need more films like this with different talent to refresh what is becoming very stale in the world of cgi blockbusters .

Some of the still shots conveyed so much and it goes to show that less is often more !

Well its quite annoying having to fill ten lines Mr IMDb !

OK one more line

Is this the best film in the world..no but then again it's definitely not the worst. Considering its small budget it has been beautifully shot. Some of the Northern Irish accents are a bit dodgy but the main actors manage it well. Lara Lemon won best supporting actress at the New York film festival and best actress at the Southampton film festival and these are not given out lightly. What I don't understand are the Mr. Angry reviews. Very strange ! Watch it you won't be disappointed. Lara Lemon has a brilliant name and is memorizing to watch. She's one to watch for the future For a small budget it was excellent

I wasn't expecting a lot from this. No stars, slightly dodgy DVD artwork, and according to IMDb a £25k budget.

I was really surprised. not only is it beautifully shot and edited (the final 15 minutes in particular really had me on the edge of my seat) but the performances are so well judged; the characters are flawed but interesting, everyone has conflicting motivations and it has led to a taught, compelling and visually interesting piece of work that feels like a film made for 100x its budget. Writer/Director Glen Kirby and his team have a bright future.

Particular note to Lara Lemon, who despite having an unfortunate last name is both fantastically talented and breathtakingly beautiful. If she's not a major star by the time she's 30 there's no justice in this world.

Watched the movie and came to IMDb and realized the most voted review was really punishing on the movie although IMO it wasn't that bad.

The movie serves its purpose and it doesn't drag the story making it a 1:30h enjoyable movie.

Solid performances by all main actors.

Not sure about the bad Irish accent since English is not my mother language but it probably helped me to understand the movie without subtitles.

6,5 out of 10

thanks

A great intimate Trilher, which has a very interesting history and a little crazy too, in addition to relying on a unique landscape, the Alps with glaciers of France. A plot is about an accidental crime that causes mental sequels, I recommend !!!!

Filmmaker Glen Kirby, a multi-professional (writes, produces and directs) premieres in its first place (in English, in English) and is presented in a good promise for new and great films. The actors do a great performance, the highlight of the protagonists Henry Douthwaite and Lara Lemon that make a great representation.

OK, I have been in Ireland, worked with Irish, etc., even someone from Belfast (but did not have a very heavy accent), but maybe are right the ones (actually, I think one) complaining a heavy fake Belfast accent (I guess the accent from Dublin, that I know better, is different). Also, I may agree it is not the best film around, but... Like many others, I was expecting a kind of action Hollywood "kill all" movie, in non-Hollywood imitation sauce - instead, it comes out as being a somehow intimate movie, with just enough action to keep the story, but a lot of focus on psychology of the characters, very good use and perfect choice of the scenery, good choice of the music, and at least some of the actors and dialogues are actually good. True, the characters could have been developed even a bit more (though rather because they were already clearly in the right direction), some of the actors were a bit "too little French to be in France" ;-), some dialogues could have been better, maybe some of the passages of scenes could have been done better - but I have seen more than one movie from Hollywood with good budget and even some big name, where the acting, dialogues and the movie were tons worst. And if the budget was a number of times what advertised, it would still be an very good result for the money, but for that money, it is exceptionally good - yes, I admit this last aspect and the aspect about the characters psychology have upped my rating a lot. Not the first title would come to mind to suggest to someone from an entertaining night, but I am definitively happy with the choice of watching it (and by the way, see what another reviewer wrote, no, I am not part of the family of anybody involved with this movie ;-))

I thought this film was really good! It had an interesting story-line and was extremely well- acted. I nearly didn't watch it because of the low ratings but very glad I did as it was tense and thrilling. I would definitely recommend it to others as I am sure they would enjoy it. Undeserving of such low ratings in my opinion.

Off Piste could have been an exceptional film, with more careful handling.

Sharper, more intelligent narrative and a simpler, more considered story line, with perhaps the IRA, taking the place of the weird sociopath forlorn boyfriend/sidekick thing, would could have seen this film shine.

Indeed, the last quarter of the film is very watchable and hints at what this film could have achieved. Six out of ten from me.

It is not often that you watch a movie, and feel none of the dialogue is forced or cheesy.

All of the dialogue in this movie is well done.

There is dialogue between the main character and a psychologist that you probably should watch out for in this movie. Is the psychiatrist running a script, falling in love with her patient, or just trying to have as many sessions as possible, make more money? Could be any of the three, or could be some other fourth or fifth reason.

Having a movie with such uncertainty as to what exactly was going on kind of imbues it with some appealing mystery. Much like questions about life, not all questions have to have one unique answer.

This is a bit of a Marmite movie as has "made in Britain" all over it. Without spoiling this, it is the kind of movie where you know exactly what is going to happen within watching it for about 10 minutes. For me this is not a bad thing as I find the journey as interesting as the reveal; however, this kind of movie may be a let down for those who do not feel the same way.

This is not action packed! in fact it is 1/2 psychological, 1/3 suspense/thriller and 1/5 action. The acting is a little wooden and the plot a little rushed in the second half of the movie. Nevertheless, I cannot really compare this movie to any other making it quite unique (like Marmite!) and it is this factor that pushed my rating up.

I would not watch it again but glad i did.

Coming from N Ireland I was cringing with what was supposed to be an accent. The film was bad enough without listening to the atrocious dialogue - you would be better off sticking your fingers in your ears and shouting la la la la la la. If you are thinking of watching this film -dont - cut your toenails and watch them grow back, it would be more enjoyable.

this film is slow moving sad and at times boring but i guess its not an awful movie and it's solid so i suppose you could at least say they tried and i think it was shot well

ehhh i didn't hate it but i wouldn't watch it again so i don't know what to say to you because i don't think it's bad but it's not great either

OFF PISTE is an indie drama masquerading as an action thriller. I was suckered into watching it by the video cover and the blurb, which sounded decent: a military guy hides out on the Alps, hunted by those he's hurt in the past. All well and good, except that this is one of those movies made with next to no money, so it just consists of characters chatting and occasionally arguing. The acting is as wooden as it gets, the Irish accents particularly ridiculous, and there's not a single moment of suspense or interest from beginning to end.

Absolute Shocker!! Some if the worst cardboard acting I've seen. What was the plot? How did Niamh know about Stanley (ex Para not SAS by the way) and where he was? He wants to forget his past it still keeps a picture of his army buddies. Why did her boyfriend turn up? Plenty of blood on his sweater but no bullet hole!! Mother still breathing when she should be dead!! I hope these didn't get paid for this!!

OK, this contains a spoiler. Everyone dies in the end. No, I tell a lie. Everyone SHOULD die, in a sort of Hamlet-ish way, at the end. But sadly, they don't. The surviving characters will no doubt be recycled in another execrable movie. Even though we never want to see them again. Ever. This is a Movie With A Message. Unfortunately, it's a Boring Message and we are given the Message in the first fifteen turgid minutes. Then we get given it again. And again, and… you get the Message. And the accents. I've only been to Belfast once. But the sort of people who were out to kill our 'damaged goods' hero would never talk like that. True, if they spoke with authentic Belfast accents, we probably wouldn't be able to understand what they were saying. Which might come as a blessing, because then we could at least pretend that this was a foreign language movie. And of course, there's always subtitles. But no, cancel that last thought, because the worst bit? The dialogue. 'Wooden' doesn't do it justice. It's wearing a concrete overcoat. It's excruciating, toe-curling, wince- inducing. How do people put that sort of money together to make a movie this bad? I know they weren't *trying* to make a bad movie, so one can only assume that some dark, malevolent force took hold of all involved and caused them to come up with a terrible and implausible plot with wildly unbelievable characters, made them write such a clunky script that no actor could possibly make it work, and give such leaden and ponderous direction that a neighbour's two-hour home movie of their holiday in the Dordogne suddenly becomes an increasingly attractive option. Please don't waste your time watching this. It'll only encourage them. I watched it because I kept hoping that it would improve, that it would redeem itself somehow. But it did not. Now I'm going to have a quiet cry because I've wasted precious minutes watching this nonsense. Which is what I hope the director did when he saw the rushes.