The Worst Film Ever

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Truly hilarious, although this is meant to be a serious drama. I shun Albert Finney for taking such a part and Vicki Smurfitt is as usual her ugly, wooden self. There is no time suggested as to when the movie is meant to be set, its not the nineties or eighties more like the fifties but in that case why are people driving nineties car models? And since when did people in the border area of Ireland go to watch birds fighting?? Mostlikely you will find them shopping or surfing the net. This movie should have never been made, written or even considered. Badly acted the aforementioned Vicki Smufitt is like Keanu Reeves only not a pretty. Sad but true

Charming, almost innocently told tale. Lovely Irish scenery and gentle, calmly-paced acting. Finney's strong presence does not detract, but rather melds into the story well. I found Keesler just right for the "wide-eyed" role he plays as hero of this yarn. The other supporting players also add much flavor to the rustic backdrop.And the movie has some mild controversy. None of which has to do with cock-fighting or the IRA. It lies within the fiber of the telling. Some have said: formulaic. Some have said: episodic. Some have said: plotless. Well, then...which is it?Strictly speaking, "formulaic" movies should have a plot, and plotless movies cannot be "formulaic". Formulaic cannot be "episodic"...I say: the movie goes about just as life does - haphazardly, full of turns expected and not. Each random event, another one of life's lessons which add to one's strength or weakness.I recommend this movie to those whose view of life is not an exercise in the breaking the speed of light - but instead of a "taking in" of that light and welcoming the ensuing darkness as a natural flow and balance of all things.

This was a disappointment. There's no point in repeating the comments others have made about the dodgy acting. As an Irish person, I can also add that the accents were highly questionable and in some cases just plain wrong. Rites of passage films tend to be pretty formulaic and this one broke no moulds. Nor did it ever intend to.

This is both a coming-of-age movie and a fine picture of how the border between the Irish Republic and the Six Counties, and the ancient animosities of the place, become part of the landscape. There are no green plastic derbies or fuzzy pipecleaner shamrocks in this funny, touching and gritty portrait of a family, a young couple and a nation each torn in two. Finney's police officer is a man who believes in the system even when it clearly doesn't work, not an unknown type on that island, while the quirky, iconoclastic young farmer who takes our lad in hand shows much better than "Sins of the Father" how clever young men with good hearts find places a better world would keep them out of. As for the romance, well, watch the movie. It's very much well worth it. But it's a real world you'll find here, not "Finian's Rainbow," so don't expect to walk away with a cheerful Irish song on your lips.