Let's be realistic.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

This film is something of a mixed bag! As a fan of Timothys work I was eager to watch this film just to see Tim Dalton,and not so much for the "Troubles" storyline which,and lets face it,Hollywood has done an abysmal job of bringing to the big screen. Dodgy accents aside,this is a fairly accurate film which shows the IRA as the thugs they are,murdering police officers and shooting children. I thought Timothys performance was pretty good,although the accent needed a bit of work. Cary Elwes was thoroughly annoying as the army lt trying to befriend "gingy", who was equally irritating because he constantly had that "i picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue" look on his face. If you want to see a fairly accurate portrayal of the terrorism that existed in Northern Ireland in the 1990's warts and all,watch this movie! If you want to cling to the belief that the IRA are heroes fighting for truth,justice and a pint of Guinness instead of being the murderers and drug dealers they really are, then my advice is to get real!

The makers of this film threw plenty into the mix of a deceptively simple story of a reluctant IRA man (Anthony Brophy) forced to turn supergrass when caught redhanded carrying out a rocket attack on a judge. There are enough bits and pieces thrown in here about the 800-year history of the troubles to give a decent idea of the big picture, even to those like myself who aren't all that familiar with Irish history. We see a bit of the historical background, the current English, Loyalist and IRA positions, how hatred is perpetuated through the next generation, how the innocent as always are victimised the most. It's a heady mix in a gritty and disturbing film, and to their credit, the film makers quite rightly decided not to resolve their story, just like the Troubles themselves. One quibble. Despite good performances, it's a bit hard to accept the central characters being as old as they're supposed to be. Ginger (have I spelt that right?) is meant to have have spent a total of 10 years in prison and we assume his wife has spent an equal time doing it tough raising the kids. It's a bit to believe this when they are played by young spunks Brophy and Maria Lennon.

we've seen this story before in different variations, however overall this isn't bad. Some good acting especially (and as usual ) by Dalton.One is able to identify easily with this version because it's the most recent, but still nothing can quite surpass the excellent 1935 film.All'n all, it's worth seeing.

Don't get fooled by the seemingly interesting plot, the movie lacks any action whatsoever. The plot also turns out to lack any depth. In addition, the movie is very inconclusive. The only highlight of the movie was Timothy Dalton's Inspector Rennie. My vote: 1