Product Details

• Actors: Francis Capra, Brendan Gleeson, Tom Guiry, Melissa Leo, Michael Angarano
• Directors: Brad Gann
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: January 8, 2008
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000XUOLQQ
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,243 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"You do NOT want to miss this film." "...one of the best movies of the year." --Boston Now

Product Description

A powerful, "fine study of everyday heroism" (VARIETY) and featuring brilliant performances by an all-star cast, Black Irish is haunting and unforgettable. In South Boston, where Irish roots run deep and Catholic tradition reigns, two brothers face similar hardships but lead far different lives. While older brother Terry descends into drugs and crime, 16-year-old Cole (Michael Angarano) vies to make the state baseball championships--but must struggle to withstand his brother's destructive influence. When the two inevitably clash in a life-and-death confrontation, family ties--and futures--are at stake. DVD FEATURES include a Behind the Scenes of Black Irish and a Commentary Track.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Disintegration of a Family, January 13, 2008

By	Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

BLACK IRISH is one of those little Independent films that manage to give more to the audience than the extreme constrictions of time and budget would suggest. Writer/director Brad Gunn (his first film) manages to tell a story about an Irish family from South Boston that is sincere, realistic, poignant, and profound, and though he worked with a small budget and a shooting schedule of 22 days, he has produced a fine little gem of a film.

The McKay family has problems: father Desmond (Brendan Glesson) lacks work and spends most of his time drinking beer and watching baseball on TV, having been a promising baseball player as a youngster but nipped by the Vietnam War into glum lethargy; mother Margaret (Melissa Leo) resents the shadow of the man she married and works as a social worker to support her family; daughter Kathleen (Emily VanKamp) is pregnant, unwed, and when denied the choice of abortion by her mother's strong Catholicism is determined to have the child by herself, giving it the loving home she feels she has been denied; son Terry (Tom Guiry) is a tortured delinquent who is a gang member and always in conflict with the law; and youngest son Cole (the excellent young 20-year-old Michael Angarano of 'One Last Thing', 'Man in the Chair', 'Snow Angels', 'Lords of Dogtown', 'Seabiscuit', etc) is conflicted by wanting to be a priest versus wanting to be a professional baseball player - he is the good kid and the last hope of his parents.

Terry tricks Cole into accompanying a house break-in and the trouble begins. The financial crisis at home drives Cole to get a job in a restaurant, and drives Desmond to menial work shining shoes. The family will support Kathleen's pregnancy, but that strips the income to the point that Cole must leave his Catholic school to be in public school, and while that seems to dash his hopes for a career in baseball, the coach at his public school (Finn Curtin) acknowledges Cole's talent and promises a future. Terry's lifestyle as a hoodlum presents increasing problems and at one point Cole gathers the courage to confront Terry during a robbery plot at Cole's work place and Terry is seriously wounded. We discover a hidden fact about Desmond that explains some of his sociopath behavior to his family and it is this discovery, coinciding with Terry's gunshot injury and Kathleen's tough life as an unwed working pregnant girl, that pulls the family unit back together.

If the plot sound like soap opera rest assured it is not. This is an intensely realistic examination of a fragile Irish Catholic family striving to makes sense of a world that is increasingly chaotic. All of the actors are excellent, but the extraordinary sensitivity and skill of young Michael Angarano make this a film to cherish. And Brad Gann is assuredly a talent to watch! Very highly recommended. Grady Harp, January 08

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Black Irish, April 29, 2008

By	Lawrence W. Jamison, Jr. (RI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a gut wrenching yet heartwarming story with superb acting by most of the cast - real to life. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, October 9, 2008

By	R. J. PATTERSON "sixstring" (london, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

i consider this to be one of the better films i have seen in quite some time. such a good mix of bright and dark, humour and pathos as real life is.

the bid with the bird flying into the window is worth watching the movie even if you don't like the rest of it.