A Belfast Story

The situation was, and still remains, far more complex than is portrayed in a film that predictably portrays one side as being a victor of what constituted a bloody, internecine civil war.

Unfortunately the dewy eyed, Boston Irish sentiment for supposed Irish ancestry and the glamour of the IRA has prevailed over the historical bigotry that lies behind a conflict that can never be won as long as there remains division in Christianity (catholicism and protestantism alike). And, indeed, Rome's refusal to intercede and the alignement of terrorist factions across the world are very much interlinked (Basque separatism, pro-Gaddafi Lybian factions, illicit arms sales, etc) has left us all with a legacy insofar as dealing with urban terrorism.

This film totally fails to take account of the many factors that remain today, and is smug and inaccurate. Yes, I am Irish (Dublin) and brought up as a Catholic.

There is no redeeming quality to this film whatsoever. Atrocious writing, directing and acting. A director who clearly has never watched a film in his entire life. All the positive reviews are obviously fake it's the only possible explanation. It's no surprise this director wasn't allowed to make another feature after this one. I'm embarrassed for Meany.

I'm on a free trial with Amazon Prime and have been binge watching movies, most of which are new to me. This was such a one. It's a revenge and "who is doing it" movie. These movies, by their nature, almost force you to stay to the end. Towards the end some of the perpetrators reveal themselves and explain their personal reasons for their deeds. (Some of those deeds are carried out in situations that require people to do things at precisely the right location and precisely the time. The planning is immaculate and everybody who they are after is in the right place at the right time. For instance, going to the chip shop for supper or changing ties on mannikins in a shop window display,) There is also, I think, an underlying bit of police/political skulduggery. which left be totally baffled. Colm Meaney is the old, wise to the ways of the Belfast world cop who has monologues on history, philosophy, cynicism, wisdom. At one time he talks at length in an empty room. I thought it was empty but the a wife turns up later in the movie. He has earlier declared that he has lost everything that mattered to him. Not her, obviously. Overall, the impression is that the film starts off with an interesting set up but no one had an ending in mind and they cobbled it together as the budget ran out. Very poor on everyone's part. Rubbish!

Pretty much the worst NI film that has ever been made, and I sat through A prayer for the dying. This is much worse. I kept waiting for balance, but apparently only one side was responsible for killing in Northern Ireland during the troubles (news to me) which is why they are soo troubled by their consciences, even unto public apologies. No mention of the innocent victims of the security forces, whether in uniform or out, let alone the mass murder of innocents carried out by so-called "loyalist" gangs. No, it's much simpler than that, the IRA were the bad guys plain and simple. And the RUC? Well they were the good guys of course...honest hard- working arbiters wedged between the IRA and innocent civilians.. The British seem to have been airbrushed completely out of Troubles history...well OK, that little adaptation of history is the starting point and it still manages to go downhill after that. And what exactly is "the Northern Ireland Police Service"? Last time I checked it was "The Police Service of Northern Ireland" - although this departure from any reality is quite consistent with the events portrayed, the acting, the dialogue (OMG awful), the characters, the plot and just about everything else. WTF was the fish and chips scene about? What was all that tripe the 'Chief Constable' was banging on about. And the funeral scene? just what the hell was going on there? Swerve this one as hard as you can. If you're interested in 'Troubles' movies, watch 'In the name of the father', or the excellent 'Bloody Sunday' And keep an eye out for the longest overdue film in history, 'Britain's state sponsored mass murder in N. Ireland', but don't hold your breath waiting for it if this is the kind of thing that gets a green light these days.

Woeful..tripe...horrible acting and script... shocking. Much like the troubles it's self no one walks away from this with a clean conscience.