The Young Offenders

Having watched the TV Series first and fallen in love with Conor and Jock's escapades, I finally got around to watching the film. While it is still still fun, outrageous and cringeworthy (in a good way), the film isn't as good as the series. The characters feel slightly more 2 dimensional . If I had seen the film first, I doubt I would have wanted to watch the TV series. It's still an OK film and a good length, at less than 90 minutes and you can see the green shoots of what the TV show was to become.

Why can't there be more films like this? The Young Offenders has everything I would look for in a breakout piece: a unique storyline, a brilliant cast of unknown actors, a beautiful setting and effortlessly hilarious writing. There are definite elements of Guy Richie and Shane Meadows in this production and anyone who is tired of formulaic Hollywood bilge should appreciate it's originality.

Alex Murphy and Chris Walley lead the way with excellent debut performances. They can be a tad wooden at times, but this is overridden by their natural comic timing and ability to produce genuinely heart-warming moments. Hilary Rose bounces off them perfectly and deserves to go on to bigger and better things on the back of this.

The finale is possibly a bit overcooked but that would be my only real criticism of this film. One of the better low-profile movies I have seen in recent years, highly recommended.

Really enjoyed this film. It's always good to see an Irish film that is not directly targeting an overseas audience. it's been made with genuine Irish actors, with accents from the counties where the film is made, adding to the feeling that this really is true to the story. The two main actors are brilliant and very believable. The viewer is not bogged down by morality even though there is a darker subtext it is shown in a light hearted way, and to add context to the story rather than just elicit sympathy. Having some insight into the background of the boys does give a good insight into why the boy would want to steal the drugs and their naïve plan is charming in its own way. Give this film a go.

That's not meant to be derogatory. I loved Dumb and Dumber. They were both silly and funny and had as the basis a true friendship in times of adversity. However, this film had a bit more edge and showed a bit more real life. Acting was uniformly good and the scenery was just gorgeous. I'd love to see a follow up in a few years time and hope that the two lad have not lost their zest for life, cheek or too much of their innocence. Effortlessly watchable

Being from Cork myself, this film ticks all the boxes. There was a lot of talk about it, so going into see it I was feeling it might fall short, as normally films this hyped turn out shite. From the moment this film starts it is just so funny right till the end.

I'm not sure will many people outside of Ireland get the humor, but this is one of the funniest films I've seen in a very long time, as I can relate the two lads to so many people I grew up with and PJ Gallagher was brilliant as the crippled dealer. Some brilliant characters in it and every joke was right on the money. I really do hope we get a sequel!