Half-decent performances from the four principles can in no way disguise the banality of writer Mark O'Rowe's directorial debut "The Delinquent Season". This tale of a couple of couples having marital problems in contemporary Dublin comes across like a bad play in which one character waits for the other character to finish speaking before they speak, not that what they have to say is worth listening to. O'Rowe isn't a bad writer as his previous work testifies but he has no idea of how to direct actors; he makes what potentially might be an interesting situation dull. Worse, he makes it all so unreal. Never once did I get the feeling I was watching anything but a group of actors going through their paces. I certainly never felt I was watching people with blood in their veins. A definite step backwards for Irish cinema.

What misfortune on my part to see this film & "Gloria Bell" one after the other. Both show females (w/complicity by males of course) leading dysfunctional personal love lives, and the hollow (read sex) steps they take to try to fulfill what's missing, i.e. to give meaning & love to their lives. Of course a lot of hurt shows up. People have so much, yet never satisfied even w/so much natural beauty & life to be grateful for.

An Irish drama; A story about wo couples in suburban Dublin who appear to live in marital bliss until an altercation between one of the couples occurs, which leads to cracks appearing in both marriages. This intense drama has several themes including whether love is always conditional? And, despite a close marital relationship, how well does one know their spouse? The film creates the background drama to these questions and tension is effectively built. But, the middle class observational banter is banal and a distraction and adds nothing to the central questions it attempts to answer. When the infedility occurs in the story it feels like it has no foundation, just passion and misery - there are no mechanics that judge either side. With a first rate cast, the performances make the film very watchable and dramatic, but the direction is quite static and almost stagey.