Arthur Mathews

Have you ever had a best friend you couldn't stand? Myles (Ardal O'Hanlon) has one - Austin (Ewen Bremner) - only he's too much of a slacker to do anything about it. In fact, each one of these layabouts is as useless as the other: a pair of thirty-somethings who laze around watching their lives flutter past. Fate, however, has plans to remedy their lack of motivation. Up to their necks in debt, they decide to help a dodgy entrepreneur, Gerard (Owen Roe), to create a new landmark in Irish tourism: a Famine Theme Park. When they're not painting the makeshift famine ship pink, Myles and Austin have little to do but stay in their tin hut residence and play board games. Myles looks forward to turning his life around when the job is completed, while Austin finds a contentment, of sorts, in the monotonous labour and endless toil. Meanwhile, Gerard, a man with a shark's morality, is fighting off the attentions of wealthy landowner Leonie (Morwenna Banks), and chasing dubious businessman Liam (Don Wycherley) for the money he's owed. Gerard soon involves Myles and Austin in his dodgy dealings, sending them on debt-collecting assignments, and the duo's friendship is stretched to breaking point. But can a brown envelope, stuffed with cash, offer an escape route from their self-imposed imprisonment? And will it allow them to break their bond with each other? Wide Open Spaces is an absurdist comedy about how breaking up with your best friend can be tougher than ditching a fianc e. Filtered through the singular mind of writer Arthur Mathews (FATHER TED), and directed by Tom Hall (BACHELOR'S WALK), the film channels classic double act dramas, from Laurel and Hardy to Withnail and I, combined with a stark visual and thematic sensibility, to create an unforgettable comedic escapade.