Mattress Men

(Colm Quinn/2016/Ireland) 

Mattress Men is a recession tale refracted through the phenomenon of Mattress Mick, a Dublin business man who re-invented himself using social media to survive the economic downturn. The mastermind behind this reinvention is Paul Kelly and it’s his story which is at the heart of the documentary. In debt, struggling to keep his relationship together and provide for his kids, Paul throws himself into getting Michael Flynn’s business back on its feet using guerrilla advertising and the persona of Mattress Mick. Lack of recognition for his efforts causes a rift between Kelly and Flynn but Mattress Mick has gotten too big to be brought down by personal conflict. Their relationship becomes a microcosm of post recession Ireland: Flynn, the business entity using every resource to weather the storm of the downturn, and Kelly, the employee, accepting conditions outside the norm for fear of that same storm. We see little of the real Michael Flynn, most of his dialogue is related to his business and how he can progress things otherwise he is seen flitting in and out of offices or waiting in corners on the sets of the videos Kelly makes to keep the Mattress Mick ball rolling. Paul Kelly is the real star, he singlehandedly creates a position for himself refusing to be ground down by the austerity that is crippling his personal life. And it’s his personal life that injects pathos into this film; his story becomes the real concern. There is a niggling feeling of things being too perfect when he lands a long sought contract from Flynn which will help him with his welfare status but assuming it as uncontrived one has to wonder how much this new situation will actually help him. Knowing Flynn as the astute business man he has projected throughout, having someone on contract and off the payroll surely suits him just fine. But this is a disservice to a man who employs someone fulltime to walk the streets dressed as a mattress, seems to be on genuinely good friend terms with all his staff and speaks fair and honest words about Kelly towards the end of the film. Whatever the truth, Mattress Men makes for absorbing viewing. 

(3.5/5)