Mickybo and Me

The world could be much better and easier if the children were heard or if they could speak more. The real world problems and boring routine are fantasy and dream for the kids.

Mickybo and JonJo are two of these young beings who simply don't see the things the way we adults too. They love cinema and have a special passion for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. After watching their heroes at the movie theatre they see daily life as a scenery for the adventures they create on their fresh minds.

They live in Belfast, a beautiful city that is unfortunately terrorized by bombs and religious division. They live on opposite sites of the place, but the imagination and sense of adventure they share make their friendship develop fast. This is a nice film that makes us see the hard reality through the eyes of these kids who do their best to make their dreams come true. We learn a lesson out of it: we should never stop dreaming.

I felt so comfortable, and uncomfortable watching Mickybo and Me. It reminded me of my (happy) childhood but also of the bigotry (or, should I say ignorance and fear) which is still rampant in my country. The movie sums up succinctly how things spiralled out of control here

It was like this for me - I was the age of the characters as I grew up in Belfast. It was a great adventure to see red glows emanating from a Catholic ghetto when (I did not understand at the time) it was attacked by hoards of ignorant, angry and frightened individuals whose insecurity was used for the political ends of their religious and political peers. The majority of my friends were Protestant and I never hear a bigoted word from any of them. I was that unique individual. A Catholic, living in a middle class Protestant neighborhood, with a mother who converted to marry my Catholic father - and the crap that ensued from that.

The movie is an excellent first feature for it's director. The art direction and camera work is excellent as is the acting talent of all leads. It's great to see someone from Belfast doing so well - creatively - i.e. writer/director Terry Loane.

peace, Stephen.

I watched this film not knowing what to expect... and it was a great surprise!! The story's two main characters, Mickybo and Jonjo, are terrific actors who surely have great careers ahead of them. They play the parts so well anyone would have trouble not identifying with their vivid imagination, excitement and refreshing naivety when they were their age. I also think writer and director, Terry Loane, has manged to incorporate Ireland's troubled history without making it too much a part of the film so as to spoil what is an excellent story in its own right. I am only disappointed, though, that this film has not made much of an impact in the UK. Especially with tag lines stating that this film comes from the makers of Billy Elliott and starring Julie Walters, Adrian Dunbar, Ciaran Hinds and Gina Mckee, I would have thought this film would have been pushed a lot more, however I am sure you will enjoy the film as much as I did!

Agree with all the previous positive comments about this terrific, underrated little movie. Julie Walters is as always quite wonderful in her role, but the movie is of course stolen by the 2 young leads who display a wonderfully natural talent in roles which could have been written for them. This take us back to more innocent times when young lads were more interested in cowboys than girls. I's particularly poignant that it is set amidst the tragic troubles which blighted Belfast for so long.In reply to the earlier reviewer wondering when it will be released on DVD I have some good news. Unlikely as it may seem it's just been released by Universal DVD Germany under the title 'Mickybo & Ich'. It's a Region 2 & 4 release with a variety of audio and subtitle choices. Should be easily available from Amazon.de.

I loved this film! The boys were a delight, I laughed so hard, and must admit I saw a bit of my husband as a child in Mickeybo. I enjoyed the adventures, or rather misadventures, of the boys, and enjoyed watching their characters develop. I am sure we all knew a Mickybo when we were kids, and as mad as we might have thought they were at times, we admired them as wished we could be a bit more like them. As for "treacle-coated ending", as one review said, it was no such thing. I felt it showed that things are not always as they seem and through it all, people can learn to to understand and accept each other. And not before time. I highly recommend this film!