L'Irlandais

In my opinion Mickey Rourke's third best movie, the first being "Angel Heart" and the second being "Year of the Dragon".

Rourke teamed up with Mike Hodges the director of such classics as "Get Carter" and the more recent "Croupier" in April of 1986 in London.

The whole movie was filmed on location in London, the Irish scenes at the beginning were filmed probably in Herts. The actual church is in Canning in London, near the ill fated Millennium Dome and still stands today. It wasn't being used as a church at the time, and the roof damage was real due to a bombing in the second world war. The church still stands and is currently used as a community centre.

Rourke plays Martin Fallon an IRA terrorist with a heart who recently bombed a school bus by accident and fled to London to evade the IRA and start again. He is taken on by local kingpin Jack Meehan played by a very camp Alan Bates whom has a day job of a funeral director and by night a nasty villain who wants Fallon to do one last job and he will pay him well and give him a passport and ticket to the US.

The mark Fallon is to kill is another local kingpin whom Meehan wants dead so he can take over his drug business. The mark he has to kill always visits his mother in a local church where Fallon shoots him, but is seen by Father Da Costa played very well by Bob Hoskins. Da Costa won't co-operate with the police after hearing Fallon's confession and the whole movie then is based around Jack Meehan trying to kill Fallon and the Da Costa.

Rourke's accent is spot on, maybe not to a true Irishman, but certainly to most it is very good, and his acting is on top form.

Hoskins is believable and carries of being a vicar fairly well, and the script also tells he is an ex army officer which gives him a bit of reason to be little rough on some of the villains.

Look out for a young Anthony Head (from Buffy) and a blind Sammi Davis whom was very popular in a lot of Ken Russell movies from the early 90's.

Fine character portrayals by Rourke, Hoskins, Davis and Bates. If you don't generally think highly of him, don't be put off by Rourke starring; he shines in this ensemble piece . If you only think of Hoskins as a humorous figure, see this movie for a new perspective.

The plot is dark; the pace, at times, deliberate, but it maintains its intensity well, for most of the film, through to its satisfying, if somewhat abrupt, conclusion.

Recommended.

Mickey Rourke is a much deeper and more dedicated actor than he gets credit for. His accent in " A Prayer.." is spot on and that is quite an accomplishment that takes months of dedication. He takes his place up in the front row with Gary Oldman, Pete Postlewaithe (sp.?) and I even have to include Brad Pitt after his amazing performance in Snatch. Rourke's Bad Boy image makes the moral dilemma he creates for himself or finds himself in even more effective. Brilliant scene when Hoskins becomes increasingly irate and at the peak of his fury we see him from Rourke's POV and his dark outline eclipses the first few letters of a "Courage" beer sign and only the flashing red neon letters RAGE remain.

Based on the Jack Higgins novel of the same name, A Prayer for the Dying follows an IRA hitman (Rourke) who has seen enough and wants to come clean. Chased the cops and the IRA as well as a notorious gangster, Rourke (as Martin Fallon) has to protect a priest who he has implicated in a murder. While some of the supporting actors aren't the most impressive, I think that this is Rourke's best work. He plays a man with a haunted past who wants desperately to put an end to the cycle of violence that has followed him for years.

IRA hitman Martin Fallon botches a hit, and accidentally kills a bus full of children, desperate to escape the life, Martin agrees one final hit, but is seen by a Priest, who tries to convince him to see the error of his ways.

I would class this as something of a hidden gem, and judging by the limited number of reviews, it sadly seems to have been largely forgotten.

One of my dad's favourite films, I'd watch it on a semi regular basis, and as of today, I'd say it hasn't lost any of its shock value, and certainly none of its grit.

It's a fairly bleak and dark story, the harrowing opening sequences set the tone, and remind us all just how bad 'the troubles' were, truly a violent and tragic piece of history.

Arguably it's a little corny in parts, and that ending is wild beyond belief, but the core of the story is excellent, and the cast all deliver terrific performances.

A pretty terrific cast, and Rourke, if ever you need reminding of just how good an actor he is, stick this on.

8/10.