The Van

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The Van is not as sharply observed or as boisterous as the first two installments of Doyle's Barrytown Trilogy, The Commitments and The Snapper, but it is a sincere portrayal of Dublin's working class. When bakery worker Bimbo (O'Kelly) loses his job, he heads to the pub to commiserate with his out-of-work buddies. Bimbo convinces his best friend, Larry (Meaney), to go into business with him. They decide to peddle fried food out of a chipper van and scrape together enough money to buy a grease-infested, broken-down truck. Their timing could not be better. Set in 1990, when Ireland advanced to the World Cup finals, they park the van outside pubs on game nights and make a killing. But the partnership nearly destroys the friendship as Bimbo questions Larry's work ethic. The crud under Larry's fingernails doesn't help Bimbo's confidence.