Truly Dreadful Film

One of my all time favorites.

Boring, long, and too preachy.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

As a child, John Paul Moorehouse (John Connors) watched his father get killed in a drive by. The culprit was never found. He was raised by his uncle to be a fighter. The Moorehouse family is involved in a feud with the Powers clan who far outnumber them. Their lands are separated by private property whose owner is not keen on trespassers.As you may have guessed John Paul has a love interest in the Powers clan, Winnie (Carla McGlynn) someone he knew as a child.The film is an interesting look at the Travellers who marry young in prearranged marriages and not always by the wishes of the bride. The sound track for this film is diverse with traditional songs being used as well as Johnny Cash and contemporary music. I was most intrigued by the old photos during the opening credits.The film didn't have much linear plot movement. It consisted of back and forth between the families. I enjoyed the characters, dialogue, and occasional humor.Parental Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

Ian Palmer's fascinating look into the oft hidden world of traveling Irish gypsies and there subsequent bare knuckle boxing is a raw unflinching documentary that while not offering any concrete answers as to why these things happen it's still a must see account of some wholly original real life characters and lifestyles.Make no doubt about you will need to have subtitles on for Knuckle for it features a set of Irish men whose accent is so thick you would be hard pressed to understand a single sentence. The focus of Knuckle and these men is on James McDonagh a man who has never lost a fight and amongst his fellow kin is likened to some sort of Irish boxing God. James is a bewildering character but an ever watchable one, witness as he proclaims his fighting days are over only to again return to the arena to uphold is families name once more. Capturing James and his family over twelve years is director Palmer who deserves much credit for his work here.Palmer's direction is not professional in any stretch of the imagination but what it is true to the subject and his ability to have an unflinching eye on proceedings of these family feuds should be commended. With Palmer's hand behind camera the film never feels like it is taking a side in the story or pointing fingers at anyone whether they seem right or wrong, it's a bold directional decision yet allows the film to play out in non-intrusive way.Knuckle is a gritty violent film that some will find truly repulsive, Knuckle is also a must see for what happens in this story is real, the people are real and the emotions are real. If someone were to make a movie of this story it would seem unrealistic yet here we have an unquestionably honest look at a world that many would prefer not to acknowledge, put it this way if you thought Brad Pitt was the quintessential gypsy boxer you ain't seen nothing yet.4 swollen knuckles out of 5 For more movie reviews and opinions check out - www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com

A real life Irish Fight Club? This brutally honest, raw and disturbing documentary uncovers a startling story of a family feud that follows a rather bizarre course. For several decades, the traveling Quinn McDonagh family has been fighting with their cousins the Joyces, in an ongoing feud that makes the Hatfield McCoy feud seem like a minor family spat. Although the origins seem hazy now, each generation seemingly is determined to keep the feud going. Every couple of years male members of these rival clans meet in some back road or remote farm yard to try and resolve their differences through bouts of bare knuckle fights. Essentially it's brothers fighting cousins, and some of these fights last for barely a few brutal minutes. Not only is family honour and masculine pride at stake, but there is also a substantial monetary prize for the winner. There are also rules to be observed, which are enforced by a couple of neutral referees. Documentary filmmaker Ian Palmer stumbled upon this fascinating story when he was invited to film a wedding by James Quinn McDonagh, the formidable leader of his clan. Even though he is now past his prime, James has never lost a bout.

Knuckle is a sad story about various factions of one family of Irish Travelers who settle decades-long animosity toward one another through bare-knuckle battles that take place in obscure areas across the Irish landscape. Modern technology plays a big role in their feud. The fights, that pit the toughest men in each of the families against one another, are filmed for immediate viewing by all competing families.Although the battles, billed as "fair fights" with impartial referees from non-combatant families, show the fighters giving their all, win or lose, it is the insulting and disparaging commentary, captured on film after the fights by the victors' clan members that fuel the feud for years to come. There are isolated shots of women and children. One woman, in particular, spoke at length about the need for all of this to come to an end. The greatest sadness in the film is the legacy that the feuding and fighting brings to the children who are doomed to follow in their dads and uncles footsteps, if not as fighters certainly as haters. One might conclude that these feuding families found a safer way of dealing with their hostility toward one another than shooting or stabbing.Filmed over a decade-long period from the mid-1990's to mid-2000's, viewers are offered only a glimmer of hope that things could change. But even this is marred by the reality that all it takes is a slight, an insult or a "dis" that could change things in a moment. As for the fighting itself, film-goers will see quite a few bloody battles, one with two out-of-shape grandfathers. But there is nothing to compare with professional boxing or mixed martial arts. These were pure street fights with some grabbing, gouging and biting (although all of that was cause for disqualification). As someone one who knows just enough about boxing I kept wondering, throughout all of the fights, why none of the combatants went for the body.