Why Do People Dislike this Film?

I agree

"You didnt weigh the chain did ye Doc?"

RP Mc Murphy

Not having seen this movie can you give me an outline of the subject matter??

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I like Liam Neeson, and I saw this film on sale and will be purchasing it based on what I've read on this board. It seems to me that Lamb saw himself in the boy, and the desperation and alienation of his own life was projected onto the boy. So the ending doesn't bother me, perhaps if I had watched the whole film first without knowing all this I would feel differently(which in itself is interesting). At the least this is a thought-provoking film and that's a good thing. By the sound of it , it reminds me of The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearn in that it is an unapologetic look at loneliness and desperation. Since we live in a culture which runs from suffering movies like these would naturally be shunned.

Ponder that~

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I saw this movie when I was a kid, one of the first serious dramas I ever really watched. I related to this movie on so many levels and it is one that has stuck with me for nearly 30 years. I was the same age and manner of Eoin in the movie, this movie gave me a realistic perspective on life. I've been a huge fan of Liam neeson ever since.

I was the same age as Hugh O'Conor and I remember watching this movie at the time it was first broadcast on TV in Ireland. I have recently been able to find a copy of it and watched it again.

It is a truly excellent film, with fine performances and a gut-punching brutality which clearly isn't to everyone's taste. One review here describes the ending as disgusting and others that the last 1/3 of the film is totally unrealistic.

I think this misses the point of the movie: problem children in Ireland were often handed over to religious institutions for care. The care given in these institutions obviously varied in quality, but it was at times brutal and certainly even in the nicer (non-reform) schools in Ireland there were always a few sadistic old bastards around. Therefore the character of Brother Benedict is highly believable.

As for Lamb, well he comes across as a \naïve young religious who is trying to come to terms with his vocation and desire to help others and the reality of working in a brutal and sadistically run institution. He tries to mentor and protect young Owen, but Lamb himself is a flawed man, working in a flawed institution and he realizes that there is nothing he can do to protect Owen (or other kids) in the current situation. Opposite the immature and naïve Lamb, Owen to protect himself, behaves older than his years and this gets him in trouble. Lamb is caring but having been in a religious order is not very practical and not mature. He does not understand the value of money and upon receiving his inheritance he runs away with it taking Owen a long to try to save him from the brutal regime. This is Lamb escaping as much as Owen, Lamb using Owen to justify to himself in some ways that by breaking his vows and leaving his order he is doing it for some greater good.

A naïve priest and a 8 year old boy struggle in the brutality of London and it is clear to Lamb that running from to London has been akin to jumping from the frying pan into the fire. By this stage Lamb is on the run from the law, clearly Owen is too young and precocious to be left on his own, but how else can Lamb earn money to survive. They return to Ireland and Lamb in desperation, having failed to find a better life for the boy decides to end the boys life and his own. However, as has been clear by his choices and actions Lamb is weak and fails to drown himself, leaving the boy dead and he left alive with an even greater burden.

I do not understand why reviewers say this makes the film "disgusting". Sure the act is, but the movie is not glamourizing the act. Lamb is a very flawed hero and his actions are mixed, that is made clear in his failed attempts to kill himself at the end. Lamb, as a religious, believes there is a next life and that he is releasing Owen to that life, where he hopes to join him.

For those who say this is unrealistic, I think they need to read the newspapers. Off the top of my head there was a case in Greece where a man threw his kids from the balcony, a case in Wales where a man killed himself and his ids in their car. Desperation leads to desperate acts. Here Lamb is desperate, he cannot afford to be on the run with Owen, and knows that when caught he is likely to be incarcerated and Owen sent back to an institution where he will be further abused. His other option is to have faith, which as a religious he clearly must have (even if he is questioning it) and so he hands Owen over to God and intends to follow.

This movie will probably appeal to fans of the likes of Ken Loach. It is a brutal portrayal of the very real and difficult choices people need to take in desperate times where the state and institutions are failing to humanely protect and care for the disadvantaged.

For those who say it is unrealistic: read the papers - the world is a hard place for the disadvantaged
For those who say it is disgusting: the movie does not glorify the actions of Lamb, his failure to commit suicide himself shows his weakness and is in some ways the great tragedy (at least for Lamb) as he is left with the guilt and doesn't get to accompany Owen in the next life.
For those who think it is slow or boring: well maybe it just isn't the movie for you