haven't seen it, but why is the rating so low? trailer expressed a lot of film festival awards..
the glass is not half full nor half empty...but it is filled with something.
Because it's not very good, at all.
shareThis is one of those movies the critics trashed and the audience loved - it is waaaaayyyyy better than the critics gave it credit for. Great script, wonderful direction, and superb acting, especially from Karen Allen and Stephen Lang. This movie will become a classic over time - one that will gain more popularity on dvd than it got in the theatres. It deserved better...
shareI give it high marks across the board. Yes, the Karen Allen and Stephen Lang characters were good, but really, the brothers carried the day. Excellent story and well told. The only thing that I didn't care for were the two pudgy children playing young Brian and young Danny. They did not resemble their grown up counterparts, but that's a minor quibble.
The build-up to the critical moment at the Stones concert was excellent storytelling and the tension great. I wasn't sure how it was going to play out except that I knew that something bad would happen including the possibility that Danny might be killed. I thought it was positively riveting. I didn't like that the knife-wielding Ray got away with murder.
For a low-budget independent film, I thought it came off extremely well. I loved it.
The paid liars are strong in this thread
shareHey, are you calling me a paid liar? When do I get paid?
Seriously, I stand behind my remarks. For a contemporary film (and I'm not a fan of most contemporary film), and a low-budget independent, I thought that it succeeded better than most. I give it high marks. I enjoyed it.
"Paid liars?" This is the producer. We could barely afford to make the film, let alone pay commenters!! (Ask the actors, who were paid the lowest of the low SAG minimum themselves, out of love for the project. Stephen Lang's bagel budged on Avatar was more than the cost of this whole movie.)
We had some nasty, nasty critics who didn't like the fact that a TV guy made this movie, that's for sure. But audiences across the board and all over the world responded with laughter, tears, and standing ovations. For that, it was worth it. Every actor and everyone else involved with this very personal, very autobiographical (for the writer/director) film stands behind it with great pride and love.
If you loved this film, vote us up on those sites. Audiences should have the final word.
MJP-2, don't take it so personally! even though making this film this must have been a labor of love. Remember, this is the street-level marketplace of opinion, where every wag, bag and nag gets equal access to the podium as anyone else.
"But audiences across the board and all over the world responded with laughter, tears, and standing ovations." sounds a little too much like boilerplate P.R.-speak. Don't indulge the trolls. The film speaks well for itself and a few dyspeptic and vitriolic curmudgeons nay-saying on here can't take that away.
I've been recommending this film to all my friends.
It's tough not to take it personally, but as for the quote you listed, may sound like PR but it's the simple truth. I was there for all of it, and it was a beautiful thing to see. We ended our run back in Manhattan at the Manhattan Film Fest and had the best audience yet.
Thanks for the rec!
Very good movie. I enjoyed it!
shareThe NY accents of the actors playing Brian & Shauna were not very good, which really just shouldn't have happened. It was distracting, and it was unnecessary to chance that by using LA actors when there are so many more talented actors in NY - from Brooklyn - that would have also worked for that "low" SAG budget. Karen Allen was good, as well as Stephen Lang.
sharei loved it, caught it on netflix . i'm picky with flicks and thought it was near perect
shareI agree. I had seen it on Netflix but it didn't sound too interesting. I decided to watch it and the acting is excellent, the storyline is superb and the dynamic between the characters really drives the film. I thought the end was really touching. Flipping through Danny's notebook of scrabbley drawings of buildings, his brother realizes that he not only respected what he did (painting, drawing), he wanted to be like his Brian (who in turn wanted to be tough like his Danny - something he openly expressed). Very underrated film. I don't care about critics to be honest, if thought it was a great film and that's really all I care about after finishing a movie.
shareThose 'nasty, nasty critics' were consistent about the film's flaws. The narrative arc was a cliché, the characters thin, many plot points were implausible, and there were numerous dumb scenes where male characters punched each other in the face.
This film was neither original nor particularly well crafted. If people were wiping their eyes and giving the film standing ovations, they probably had their critical faculties dulled by drink.
As for the 'paid liars' - perhaps they were unpaid - but it does seem suspicious when so many of the 10 star reviews were by single review posters.
I just watched the movie and thought it was pretty good. Good acting all around, and I was especially impressed with Karen Allen who plays the mother. I haven't seen a better performance by her than the one in this movie.
sharePeter Travers, Rolling Stone magazine:
By Peter Travers
March 25, 2011
Writer-director John Gray digs into his own background to create the ardent and atmospheric White Irish Drinkers, a semi-autobiographical look at two brothers growing up in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn in 1975. Gray, best known for the CBS series Ghost Whisperer, avoids any trace of the supernatural here. The close, cramped intimacy of this film is so real it stings.
Nick Thurston nails every nuance as Brian Leary, 18, a wannabe artist who has to sneak off to paint in a neighborhood that slaps away pretensions. Gray identifies deeply with Brian, not as a painter, but as a kid who dreamed of being a filmmaker. Brian’s swaggering older brother Danny (the excellent Geoff Wigdor) is a small-rime crook who finds easier acceptance among his peers, laddie-boys who are proud to dodge the drug scene in favor of partying hard as white Irish drinkers.
What unites the brothers is a shared love/hate relationship with their longshoreman father Paddy (a superb Stephen Lang), a boozehound with a penchant for smacking around Danny and his own too forgiving wife Margaret (Karen Allen, her expressive eyes a mirror into the emotional pain Margaret holds inside).
The performances are uniformly terrific, finding the specific details that create a universal truth. Something hidden in Paddy’s past allows Brian to escape his father’s fists. The result for Brian is survivor’s guilt. He finds sexual comfort with Shauna (Leslie Murphy), a travel agent who shares his dreams of busting out of Brooklyn. And he latches onto a surrogate father in Whitey (a splendid Peter Riegert), who hires Brian to work at his movie theater. The plot pivots on Whitey’s jackpot scheme to call in a favor and have the Rolling Stones play at his theater for an hour before they head off for a concert at Madison Square Garden.
Gray builds tension as Whitey gears up for his big night and Danny preps to rob the box office. But the soul of the movie lies in the legacy of violence and the dynamics that can connect a family or crush it. For Gray, White Irish Drinkers is one from the bruised heart.
After watching this film, came here to see what the ratings were, amazing, thought the same thing, why so low. Performances outstanding, especially Karen Allen and Stephen Lang. Very seldom do I get surprised in a film anymore, and this film got me twice. I highly recommend it.
shareCaught this gem on netflix just to have some visual background fodder while I do my web work. Suffice to say, I didn't get anything done. Great movie, and happy to have found this gem on netflix.
shareJust saw this movie on Netflix. Every aspect of this movie was superbly crafted. It is obvious this was a work of passion for the art from all involved. This is a great example for other film makers that you can swing for the fences with a limited budget and if you got the "right stuff" you can make a piece that deeply connects with the audience.
shareWatched on Netflix
Nice movie
Made me feel old though...
I was freshman in college when Animal House came out and there were two actors from that film in this one...ayyyyy
What the hey nobody needs to live forever LOL
surprised also by the low rating, gets a healthy 8 from me, actors were awesome as were the writing and story, really enjoyed it.
shareI gave it a nine. I'm just some old bastard who happens to watch 250 movies a year. This was some great acting and reminded me a lot of growing up in Boston.
Thanks for making this film. This would have been a great movie for the Dropkick Murphy's to perform in!!
Karen Allen has never been better and Stephen Lang thankfully reminded me nothing of my Father.
The brothers reminded me of Chris Makepeace and Andrew "Dice" Clay. Despite that, their acting was good.
LMFAO @ Chris Makespeace & Andrew Dice Clay!!!! I watched this tonight and thought kept bothering me: These guys remind me of somebody but WHO? You nailed it perfectly.
The movie is sincere, very well acted and in some places very well written too. I totally didn't expect the way the movie came out in regards to the truth about the camping trip, the Stones concert and the fiasco afterwards. I just felt there were too many movie cliches, especially during the first 1/3 that almost made me want to turn the movie off: The drunk abusive father beating up the kids, the "closet artist" who works in secret and whose art is his only way out, one brother's a hood while the other's a saint, you KNOW one brother's gonna die, the should-I-go-to-college-or-hang-up-on-the-recruiter theme, the drinking/gay bashing/disco taunting conversations, the gf who says she's moving out and even the Pogues wannabe music. I get that cliches are based from reality but it was a tad too much at the beginning but the performances kept me riveted and in the end it turned out to be a rewarding film.
Jamie Lee Curtis survived Halloween,a Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train & now she can't poop!