The Brylcreem Boys

This film somehow manages to take a fascinating premise and totally destroy it with bad writing and some of the worst ensemble acting in a film that I have ever seen. Even the usually reliable Gabriel Byrne gives a one-dimensional performance. And he deserves a portion of the blame for making this fiasco, being one of the producers. All-in-all a waste of time and money that doesn't even qualify as good trash.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film. The location, although set in Ireland, was actually filmed mostly at Jurby Airfield on the Isle of Man, which is an old RAF station and in many ways still as shown in the film. The shot of the cottage by the beach at Niarbyl is the same one used as Ned Devines cottage in Waking Ned.

This was a great movie of the hardships of the pilots during the war. It was a moving story that brought me to tears and laughter throughout the movie. It was beautifully done with all the actors involved. I thought Bill Campbell brought a real life feeling to the character that he portrayed. He is of course an excellent actor. It was almost like being there along side of those men who were there. I have watched this movie on several occasions, because I was able to purchase this one. It is rare that such a moving picture is released, but this one is surely a keeper. All of those who get the chance to view this movie, certainly should. I think it should receive an academy award, but who am I. I suggest this movie should be watched if at all possible. A few months ago, HBO had an airing of this wonderful movie, and I was unable to resist watching it at more than one occasion.

The Brylcreem Boys takes as its subject matter a fascinating true situation but doesn't really seem to know what to do with it. Set in the neutral Republic of Ireland during WWII the story revolves around a group of British and German servicemen who find themselves interned in the same POW camp, separated by only a thin strip of land between two fortified fences through which they trade insults. And that's pretty much it, really. There's an unremarkable romance between a Canadian serving in the British RAF (Bill Campbell) and a comely local lass (Jean Butler), and a predictably resolved rivalry between him and German officer Count Rudolph von Stegenbek (Angus McFadyen), but for most of the movie you get the impression that the writers didn't really know what to do with the subject matter.

The basic premise would seem to lend itself to a comedy in the vein of an old Ealing production: a prison camp from which none of the allied forces wish to escape, where their pay slips are received monthly, from which they receive day-passes to visit the local race meetings, and in which the only bars are the type that serve pints of beer. The comic possibilities would seem endless but the humour here is almost non-existent, as are any elements of suspense or tension, and the writers seem to approach certain aspects that could be of interest – the effect on Stegenbek of learning that his comrades slaughtered a French farming family who shielded Keogh (Campbell) for example – only to back off once the ground work is complete. The inevitable escape attempt, when it finally arrives, is glossed over in a few scenes, and the fate of the principals announced by a voice-over. All in all, while the film has some entertainment value, it's a big disappointment. And for my money any film about British POWs that casts a couple of actors from Charlottesville, Virginia and Dallas, Texas as the lead RAF characters has irreparably compromised itself from the outset.

Having now seen "The Brylcreem Boys" for the third time, I adore the whole mood and feel of the piece. The subject matter (true, according to a recent article in the UK paper The Guardian) is handled in a way that only a British movie maker can do: with humor and without mawkishness. Suprisingly it was shot on the Isle of Man which just looks beautiful. As for the casting, it has to be one of the best and inspired collections of UK actors to be seen together for at least a decade. Gabriel Byrne gives one of the warmest performances and simply cannot loose his glint in his eye. Bill Campbell nearly steals every scene and for a genuine laugh-out-loud moment (his puzzled line at the escape) Marc Sinden is outstanding! The ensemble work as though they have been a team for years and play off each other in a way that should be a lesson for any aspiring movie actors and yet the majority are well-known Brit stage actors in their own right. A delight!