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Reviews
Mickybo and Me (2004)
Poignant and funny
The story is basically that of two young boys in Belfast in the summer of 1970 who come from opposite sides of the sectarian divide. Obsessed with the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, they decide to run away to Australia and leave their problems behind.
I've seen this film twice and would happily watch it again. The two young main characters, Jonjo and Mickybo, are wonderfully cast and the story dwells on their friendship and their need to escape their lives rather than being just another film about the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The cast is excellent, Adrian Dunbar being a standout as the wastrel father. The film is definitely a crowd pleaser but the story is good enough to avoid being corny or sentimental.
81 (1996)
An excellent and very funny film about the absurdities of prejudice
Very funny. Had to watch this film as part of thesis research, and I enjoyed its dry take on the absurdities of people's small mindedness on bigotry. It takes the format of a mockumentary, with a French news team covering the events surrounding the hunger strikes in 1981 in Northern Ireland.
A Catholic and a Protestant family, almost identical in every respect and living only a few yards from each other on the same street, are interviewed about their feelings on the hunger strikers. Hand-held cameras and a raw feel help to make this feel very authentic even while you are laughing at the obvious jokes, visual and otherwise.
Intercut with real news footage of the time, the film also makes a serious point about the dangers of passing on personal prejudices through generations without ever looking outside your own environment.
Highly recommended.