billcr12 Neil Jordan co-wrote and directed this hilarious Irish film. A boy growing up in the early 1960's is surrounded by a drunken father, a crazy mother and an assortment of oddballs. With the background of the Cold War, using actual clips of JFK's warning of a nuclear apocalypse, the people of a small Irish village pray to the Virgin Mary for salvation. Meanwhile, the kid has a personal battle with a Mrs. Nugent, who makes his life miserable. Sinead O'Connor appears to him as Our Lady. The story is a rollicking ride with no apologies to its' sometimes sacrilegious world view. As a retired Catholic, I was not offended. Just sit back and be prepared to laugh your ass off.

SnoopyStyle Francie Brady is terribly wounded in the hospital. The movie flashes back. Francie and Joe play together. Francie's father (Stephen Rea) is a violent drunk. His mother is suicidal and is taken away. Mrs. Nugent (Fiona Shaw) doesn't like him and he doesn't like her. Francie's mom returns in a manic state. Uncle Alo (Ian Hart) comes by for a Christmas visit. After his mother's death, Francie starts bullying little Phillip Nugent and Mrs. Nugent.The kid is a hateful brat and I can't stand him. I can't stand most of the characters in this movie. I want to beat some sense into the boy or quite frankly anybody. The adults are mostly clueless idiots or drunks. I don't see any of this as charming but Neil Jordan seems intend on making this quirky. The music, the narration, and the whole tone is way too light. The tone needs to be darken to match the subject. I kept wondering if Neil Jordan thinks any of this is actually funny and why? This could have been great material for a super-dark super-violent drama.

savethebeaver I'm not sure how or why or where I heard of this film, and even less sure what prompted me to buy it. I remember being slightly intrigued by the prospect of a (very) dark comedy about a young boy's dramatic life and loss of innocence, but it still stayed on my "to-watch-list" for a very long time. The simple fact is that this film seems to be largely forgotten and ignored, which, as I discovered when I finally watched it, is a real shame. It's the story of Francie, a boy with a depressed mother and alcoholic father, who escapes to fantasy worlds to deal with the real one. One by one the things that are keeping him somewhat sane are taken from him and as they are, he lashes out ever more drastically and violently. All this is set to the background of the Cuban missile crisis, which also enters the story in the last act. What sets the film apart from other such efforts are two things: amazing actors, especially newcomer Eamonn Owens, who plays Francie, that manage to make the story come alive, and a tenderness in the telling of the horrific tale that makes it both bearable to watch and yet drives home the horrible situation even more. This film is not for everyone and there are also many flaws, but it managed to draw me in and fascinate me as few films have done before. If you can manage to get your hands on it, I highly recommend it.

lhhung_himself I loved two aspects of this film. One was the incredible performance of Eamonn Owens as the butcher boy. He is absolutely real and believable as the disturbed protagonist in the parts that demanded it.The other aspect is the send up of all those happy Irish films - from "The Quiet Man" to "The Commitments" to "Waking Ned Devine". The ironic combination of these myths with gritty and nasty reality produces a surreal, disturbing yet funny black comedy.Unfortunately, the allegory and the reality don't mix as well as it might have. I kept on thinking that in real life, the butcher boy would have had the s***e beat out of him - many times over (not that it would have mattered). And even though I knew that he was not meant to be absolutely real - (somewhat like the boy in "The Tin Drum") this felt really forced since it detracted from the realistic aspects of the film where it really excelled.However, overall, an excellent and different film which is well worth watching.