Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson fix the Oscars and go behind that ‘Banshees’ ending

Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and I have been talking for about an hour — more accurately, they’ve been talking, I’ve been listening — when Gleeson asks me if I thought there was a glimmer of hope at the end of their movie, “The Banshees of Inisherin.” Before I can answer, Farrell jumps in. “I said, ‘Brendan would f— love to hear that.’” The ending of “Banshees of Inisherin,” a film about the fallout following the abrupt dissolution of a friendship, has been a point of debate between Gleeson and Farrell, friends themselves who met a year or two before making Martin McDonagh’s 2008 feature debut, “In Bruges.” The movie’s final scene on the beach finds Gleeson’s character, the musician Colm, thanking Farrell’s Pádraic for looking after his dog — mind you, this is the day after Pádraic set Colm’s home ablaze, with Colm still inside it — and Pádraic answers, “Any time.” Pádraic’s act of arson came as payback for the death of his beloved donkey, Jenny. “Or, at least want it to be there.” “Brendan and me, we’re both optimists,” Farrell says, gesturing toward Gleeson. “I said to Brendan, ‘This is better than the Oscars have ever been,’” Farrell recalls. Gleeson: “Then people could celebrate.” Farrell: “Exactly!” He’s practically jumping out of his seat, he loves the idea so much.