Broken Law

There have been several Irish movies in recent years that revolve around criminal activity and the lower working class and for the most part I have enjoyed them .

This is one of the average ones but it is made watchable by some stand out performances especially from John Connors , who I've seen before and continue to be impressed by.

It's the story of Dave Connolly who is a respected member of the Garda Síochána but his loyalty to the law gets tested by his ex-convict brother Joe who is in desperate need of his help.

The Irish accents take some getting used to and I can imagine that might put a few people off as the sound isn't great either .

It does have an amateurish feel about it at times and that might be seen as a good or a bad thing . It didn't particularly bother me.

The storyline isn't the most exciting either . I'm fact I was bored by it at times but the whole film is carried by the performances and that makes it worth watching .

Route Irish

Great Britain has a healthy legacy of what they call Geezer Films - typically main characters are from the wrong side of the tracks. They usually get caught up in some nafarious activity, mostly cast as victims of circumstance rather than shapers of it.

This is from the other side of the river - Ireland. This is as classic a tale as you can get - a geezer flick with 2 brothers on opposite sides of the law, heck could be a Bollywood film.

The direction is tight and the characters flawed so it is watchable - just about.

Theres not much by way of location photography, majority of it indoors and all that.

Still worth your time and a look into how the other half lives beyond the pretty architecture and clean streets.

Character psych doesn't always appear to track smoothly, feels more like a story than a study and the summation is a touch too moot for me, but the good points counterbalance all this well. Especially for a crowd-funded indie. The point's clear enough, some really good musical choices, solid casting, etc.

It's great to be back at the cinema again, and what a great movie to mark my return. A brilliant cast particularly Graham Early and a cracking old fashioned plot kept me engaged til the very end. Two brothers on the opposite side of the law become involved in a robbery that goes wrong from different sides. Loyalty to family vs job vs friends is the decision that needs to be made. One fantastic scene in particular of the brothers bonding and reminiscing over a spliff. John Connors is usual charismatic self but I'd like to see him in a different type of role for a change. Good solud film making which is really well acted. Recommended.

Lots of thick Irish accents compounded by bad audio and actors mumbling makes this feature frustrating to watch. I just gave up.