‘Lost & Found’ review: Slight Irish comedy/drama never loses its appeal

Movie review

Some films just feel like a labor of love, and the slight but disarmingly sweet Irish comedy/drama “Lost & Found” is one of these. Filmed over a period of five years by director/writer/lead actor Liam O Mochain, it’s a slice-of-life tale — actually, seven slice-of-life tales, told consecutively but with overlapping characters, with the lost-and-found office of a small Irish rail station as the centerpoint.

A troubled, haunted-looking man (Liam Carney) begs for ticket money outside the station, changing his story every day and looking confused when he’s challenged. A grandson (Mochain) — who works in that lost-and-found office — travels to the continent to try to keep a promise to his late grandmother (Barbara Adair). A local businessman (Donncha Crowley) struggles to find just the right formula for success with his pub. And in the final story, a young woman (Aoibhinn Garrihy) is determined to marry on her planned wedding day — despite having fallen out with the potential groom (Seamus Hughes).

None of these stories feel monumental, and all of them resolve themselves neatly in a quarter-hour or so. But they have a kindness to them; a way of seeing people as they are, with their flaws and their goodness. By end of “Lost & Found,” you feel as if you’ve spent some time in that Irish town — and that you’ve lost just a little something when it’s over.

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★★★ “Lost & Found,” with Liam O Mochain, Aoibhinn Garrihy, Liam Carney, Norma Sheahan, Brendan Conroy, Sean Flanagan, Barbara Adair, Donncha Crowley, Seamus Hughes. 92 minutes. Not rated; for mature audiences. Opens June 21 at the Crest.