The historical understructure of Nick Hamm’s The Journey came as news to me. Mr. Ugly American must have been at the movies the week Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley (Timothy Spall) and Sinn Fein politician Martin McGuinness (Colm Meaney) united their rivaling factions. The thought of being a fly on the backseat of a hatchback eavesdropping on a fictionalized conversation between the two failed to entice. Shame on me. With precious cargo like Spall and Meaney to transport, even Freddie Highmore behind the wheel — and the occasional narrative detour — didn’t give cause to incite road rage. If anything, the three made for very pleasant traveling companions. Spall takes up residence inside the violence-inciting homophobic (and cinephobic!) religious leader and once again makes a monster stimulating and compelling to the eye. Historians may find room to complain, but this is one jaunt that brought this duffer even more satisfaction the second time through. (2017) — Scott Marks
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