The cinema lights dimmed, the music swelled and Michael Flatley appeared on screen, finally giving the public a chance to see Blackbird, the spy thriller he wrote, produced, financed, directed and starred in.
For years the film industry had speculated about it, and earlier this week film critics got to view – and savage – it, but on Friday it was the turn of audiences across Ireland and the UK to give their verdict.
At a matinee showing in the IMC cinema in Dún Laoghaire, south Dublin, the result was a triumph. Everyone liked it.
“It’s good,” said Cliff Kirker, 71. “It doesn’t have the same stunts as James Bond, but it’s still a good film. Four stars out of five.”
His wife, Marie Kirker, 70, nodded. “It looked great.”
The sample, admittedly, was small: the Kirkers were the only non-media audience members in the theatre. There were no advance bookings for the next screening. Still, in the battle for public acclaim, Flatley had scored two out of two.
That some people might actually like the film could turn out to be Blackbird’s greatest twist. Scorn has saturated it since it briefly premiered and disappeared in 2018, with no reviews or audience reactions. Assumed to be a vanity project by Flatley, an Irish-American dancer, the film acquired an almost mythical status.
It has promotional heft. It opened in almost 100 cinemas across Ireland and many more in Britain. Three life-sized cardboard posters of Flatley and his co-stars – tagline: “some things are still worth dying for” – adorned the foyer of Dún Laoghaire’s IMC cinema.
The Kirkers had heard critics on radio shows mocking Blackbird as an unintentionally hilarious ego trip for Flatley, who plays a troubled secret agent trying to escape his past – and beautiful women in bikinis and slinky dresses – only to be drawn back into danger by an arch villain played by Eric Roberts.
The Kirkers, however, enjoyed the story, and the Irish and Caribbean settings. “The sections at the beginning – the flashbacks and so on – were a bit difficult to connect together, but apart from that it was good,” said Cliff.
“It was a nice love story,” said Marie. She meant the romance between Flatley’s character – codename Blackbird – and his doomed wife, not Flatley’s love affair with himself.
“He’s a showman, and that’s OK. He was an actually OK actor. If you’re a good dancer you’re all about show and acting and drama, and that’s what he was up there. He does get bad press about being a narcissist, but it’s worth going to see.”
They had no problem with the assortment of hats worn by Flatley’s character, which have provoked derision.
“They were all right,” said Cliff.
“They were grand,” said Marie.
Asked if they were related to Flatley, the couple said no. “His acting was accurate,” said Cliff. “If it wasn’t good I would have called it a vanity project, but he carried it off.”
