Il garzone del macellaio

The Butcher Boy is a very weird film...This boy Francie has a bad influence; his father. His father is a violent man, alcoholic, but he loves his son a lot...This boy is very well played by Eamonn Owens, a young actor I didn't know before who surely worths a look at his performance. Stephen Rea is perfect in the role of the violent father, and Fiona Shaw is great in the role of a woman who hates Francie, because he beats up her son. But Francie is dangerous...The story is a mix of fear, hate, madness, happiness, that is mixed up in that little boy's brain. Sometimes, he's the good boy who protects his mother and sometimes he is the murderer...Francie is full of contradictions, and he tries to put happiness and death together. The narrator is very funny, but sometimes tells innapropriate things for the images we watch...but that's the psychotic part of it...incredibly well-shot, this film deserves lots of attention. I bought it for five stupid dollars...and Lost In Space was fifteen dollars...and the video sold it because of the lack of rentals...well, too bad for this video, they have one less good film on the shelf.... Neil Jordan brought us The Crying Game, Interview With The Vampire, In Dreams and some other good films...but I believe this one is his finest job...it's like watching Sleepers, Psycho and A Clockwork Orange at the same time. One thing that could be a problem; the accent of the characters when they speak...but I was happy to see that it was not set in the United States...Great film... I give it 85% and maybe it deserves better.

Just caught this movie on cable; I hadn't heard of it before.

It is a brilliant film; black comedy of the blackest sort. What is truly amazing is the acting ability of lead Eamonn Owens; in my mind the finest performance of a kid his age that I've ever seen.

The sardonic humor of this film, the way it treats such horrible things as lightly as it does, the acting, the script, the quaint narrative devices, and sense of menace cloaked in charming small town Irish life make this a thoroughly original and engaging character study.

Sinead O'Connor is a scream as the Virgin Mary.

The thick accents in this film make it a little bit difficult to follow in parts, but American audiences should still be able to understand most of the dialogue.

I cannot recommend this film highly enough; it is proof that you can still make a quality movie without buying into cheap Hollywood cliches.

I've seen this one a few times over the years and it's never lost its impact in all this time. precocious protagonist Eammon Owens is amazing in the lead; his turn is a tour de force that keeps you riveted throughout the twisted tale. his small town Irish environment, the broken family around him and the unease caused by the threat of Cold War in the wider world all conspire to turn what are initially innocent childish shenanigans into something altogether deeper and darker. Owens' initial mischievous skirmishes with the locals introduce us to some interesting characters and although Owens himself comes across as a bit of a bully it's nice to see him enjoying youthful friendships and playing in the picturesque surroundings of his town. early on though it does become apparent that things are not quite right, firstly with his manic mother, then with his alcoholic father and lastly with Owens himself whose mind begins to unravel as we head towards the pitch black climax. the film is full of crazy episodes that veer from gleeful play to more disturbing moments and much in between. the supporting cast are great as well with excellent turns from Stephen Rea, Fiona Shaw, Brendan Gleeson and an ace and unusual cameo from Sinéad O'Connor. Owens carries the film however and as i said his turn is amazing and keeps you glued in awe throughout. never a dull moment to be had, full of fascinatingly foul-mouthed dialogue, plenty of shards of wickedly black humour and a twisted tale that spirals from bucolic light to some very dark places... excellent stuff!

I'd be lying if I claimed that the original reason I saw this wasn't anything as simple and basic as curiosity... the plot simply sounds so bizarre that one can't help but wonder about the movie itself. The movie is a wonderful mix of surrealism, drama and black comedy. As another reviewer points out, the accents may make the dialog a little hard to make out... I was fortunate enough to have subtitles(as any Dane will tell you, we get subtitles on everything that is presented to us on a screen), but I think most anyone who has a good enough grasp on the English language(and a good ear wouldn't hurt) will be able to understand, at the very least, enough of it to follow what's going on. The film is quite disturbing... it's told by a psychotic, and everything is seen from his point of view, making the line between truth and fantasy blur. The narrative is impressive, underplaying some scenes to great effect. The plot is interesting. The pacing is a tad uneven... while most of the film moves as it should, not too fast nor too slow, there are parts where it seems to come to a complete halt. Luckily, these parts are few and far between. The characters are well-written and credible. They are also all competently portrayed. The acting... wow. What can I say? Eamonn Owens is nothing short of an artist. As you watch the film(which I hope you will), observe his eyes... look into them, as he looks around menacingly, and tell me that you don't feel fear. Pure fear. One is reminded of Donald Pleasence's marvelous monologue about Michael Myers' eyes(in Halloween, for the uninitiated). That stare... if I ever met Owens in real life, I doubt I'd dare look him in the eye. Even more impressively, this was his debut performance. I'll have to watch more of his movies, to see if he can pull off other roles as well, but he certainly nailed this one. Stephen Rea was great... I've seen him in nothing else, but I could recognize his face from the trailers for V for Vendetta, a movie I'm looking forward to(even more now that I know he will grace the film with what is sure to be just as astounding a performance as he gave here), even though I'm sure it won't live up to Alan Moore's graphic novel. Sinéad O'Connor was a blast(and seemed to be having one, as well) as Our Lady. I haven't been able to find out who portrayed the main character as an adult, but let me tell you, his voice acting is grand. The narration definitely adds to the film, both in use and in acting. The writing is great. The whole film is highly entertaining and very poignant. This should be seen by just about anyone who can live with(and more importantly, understand) the language and take the disturbing nature of the film. I recommend this to anyone who is afraid of neither accents nor the disturbing images contained herein. Very funny and quite unsettling. 8/10

I went to my local video store last night and walked straight to its awesome horror section. I was specifically looking for this movie, as i had seen it in the store before, and was about to see it until my friend decided that we'd walk out with Joy Ride. The cover of this movie intrigued me, and lead me to think that it would be a darkly comeidic yet still very scary story about a boy's descent into madness.

The Butcher Boy is about an Irish boy, Francie, whose domestic life is miserable. His dad is always drunk and his mother is mentally unstable. However, he lets his anger out through his mischevous behavior in the town, particularly directed towards Mrs Nugent and her son, a perfect mother with a perfect son. Francie is also best friends with Joe, a sensitive kid of whom we get the impression from that he is losing interest in Francie's treatings of others, which are going a bit too far.

A lot more happens in The Butcher Boy, but if you don't like what you just got, don't see the movie. Though it's not slow, Francie's character development seems to drag, and Neil Jordan seems to advance his personality just before we've had enough.

The acting is what makes the movie what it is. Somebody call Eamonn Owens and give this kid a part in a movie. He owns the movie, he is the movie. Words cannot describe how good th' young laddie is at acting as the troubled Francie. This has to be one of my favorite acting performances of all time, right up there with Jason Schwartzman in Rushmore, and Kiefer Sutherland in Stand By Me. This kid needs a good role badly. Everybody else is decent, though i feel that Stephen Rea as Francie's father underplayed the role, and could've added more depth to the character. The character seemed to be waiting to become lively and three dimensional, but Rea went for the B minus and stopped there.

The butcher boy was not what I expected, and if you're looking for a horror movie about madness, look elsewhere. If you want a dramatic character study with a child actor better than a million Haley Joel Osments, this is for you. It is thought provoking, upsetting, and doesn't beg for it at all. How many movies can you say that about?