The Craic

This film is a fantastic look at an Irishman in Australia. Anyone who enjoys a good comedy should see this film. Jimeoin is absolutely hilarious & has written a very funny first film. The rest of the cast do a good job delivering their lines especially Bob Franklin (another comic legend). See it!

I saw this on TV and really enjoyed it. I had avoided renting the movie - just didn't trust the cover, but it's a very laid back oz comedy with heart and I'm glad I didn't switch the channel.

I love the look of the film - all gritty and contrasty, the colours and sunlit scenes shine brightly and create an atmosphere (gave me dejavu, but that's another story). Not sure if the look was deliberate, or whether it's just what the cheapest film stock looks like. Reminded me of 16mm film.

What the film does superbly is make it look like 1988. Not hard I suppose, since it wasn't long ago, but there were some nice touches that made it look like the late 80s.

Lots of genuine funny scenes. If you've Australian and been around a bit, you should like this movie. If you're from anywhere else in the world, there's a good chance you'll get bored.

8 / 10

The outstanding feature of this film is its "feel good" quality -in the best sense of that expression. I must admit that I'd never seen Jimmeoin before, so maybe I'm just enamoured by first impressions. Nevertheless, I laughed out loud more than once while watching this movie, and I left the theatre feeling glad that I had seen "The Craic." Can't ask for more than that can you? Go see it.

I'm a big fan of Jimeoin's work, but this film is really nothing special.

The plot is pretty weak, and at the movie's end, you may feel that there was something missing in it.

That said, the acting is pretty good, but comes across as being incomplete.

Good time filler, but don't expect anything special. Hire The Castle instead.

Rating: C

Jimeoin writes and stars in this cheerful little "fish-out-of-water" flick about two Irish guys in Australia on the run from Immigration and

a head-case IRA man.

Some of the scenarios are clearly developments of Jimeoin's stand-up comedy routines. Australian audiences will be best placed to pick the gleeful reworkings of Aussie "culture". The dating game spoof in particular is a hoot.

Good use of outback locations, but that's a bit redundant. Have you ever read a comment "there was lousy use of Australian outback locations - it didn't look good at all."? Point a camera pretty much anywhere in outback Australia and you'll get decent footage simply because of the light, colour and space.

Another highlight - Perennial character actor "Bud" Tingwell as a mad melon farmer.

Drawbacks - the Irish characters need subtitles at times due to their impenetrable accents. Too many set-pieces linked by a threadbare plot. But for all that, acceptable light entertainment.