Worth: $11.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Conor Berry, Sean Connor, Grant Robert Keelan, Tara Lee
Intro:
There’s a story to be told here, but Schemers is not it.
In 1980, Scottish scallywag/rock promoter Dave Mclean, along with his business partners Scot Young and DJ John, managed to book Iron Maiden to play at the Cardin Hall as part of their first headlining tour. The gig is infamous amongst metalheads, but it almost never came to fruition. There were numerous setbacks on the day, including no crew to set up, no support band, and no catering. Primarily this was down to Mclean and company, who had to think laterally throughout the day, including getting Mclean’s mum to come up with enough food for 40 plus people. This Spinal Tap-esque comedy of errors lends itself to a movie. A sort of Armando Iannucci, In the Loop, pile on of semi-fictional cock-ups. Instead, we have Schemers.
Directed, co-written and produced by Dave Mclean, the film follows – checks notes – Dave Mclean (Conor Berry) as he goes from promising young footballer to entrepreneur and beyond. Accusations of this being largely a vanity project for Mclean, in which he can relive and perhaps edit his younger years, are somewhat justified.
Dave is shown as being quick of thought with a gift of the gab. He loves the ladies, and they love him. Yes, he drags Scot (Sean Connor) and John (Grant Robert Keelan) into some dodgy dealings, but he’s a cheeky chappy and they love him for it. There is no sign of retrospection on the part of Mclean as a filmmaker, even though Dave comes across as unlikeable at times. However, there are moments of knowingness in the film where Mclean allows his facsimile to come across as too preoccupied with his own success. He dismisses the idea of booking a young band from Dublin because who will listen to a group called U2? It’s a shame we don’t see these moments more often.
Mclean has said in interviews that he was aiming for a Gregory’s Girl aesthetic. Still, his influences run more evident than that. When the film’s opening scene sees young Dave running down the street, trying to escape someone, whilst an upbeat song plays, it takes a lot of convincing to believe that Trainspotting wasn’t on repeat in the Mclean household. All freeze frames and narrations, Mclean is, unfortunately, no Danny Boyle.
As hinted up top, the real meat of the film is the almost disastrous Iron Maiden gig. With Dave and the boys finding themselves completely out of their depth, the whole scenario is really the meat and selling point of the film. So, it seems a crime to cram it into the last 20 minutes of a 90 minute film. There’s a story to be told here, but Schemers is not it.
