The Butcher Boy

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joe s 01/23/2025 Cynical attempt to bring humor to an all too familiar tragic tale of a young boy who suffers physical, emotional & psychological trauma. Acting is excellent but you cannot make murder funny. I also did not like the farcical portrayal of EVERYONE who practiced the Catholic faith, as if they were all terribly superstitious. Sinead O,Connor as the Blessed Virgin saying “For Fu__’s sake!” Should have ignited the film the first time it played in theatres See more S R @ScottR 05/09/2023 1001 movies to see before you die. A bizarre Irish film showing the culture there in a way that was blasphemous, black and funny at the same time. It crossed a few lines for me though and hence its rating, but it still kept my interest. It could have been much cleaner and been more approachable. It was on youtube. See more Thomas M @TMProofreader 11/25/2022 The best acting performance from Eamonn Owens! See more Dave S 10/02/2022 One of director Neil Jordan's lesser-known films, The Butcher Boy follows the exploits of Francie Brady (Eamonn Owens), the product of an alcoholic father and mentally ill mother, who makes his way through life in a small working-class Irish village by means of violence and intimidation, a sociopath in the making. It is a bleak and harrowing existence, but the film is infused with an odd energy thanks to the performance of Owens, as well as Jordan's direction, who allows the camera to roam about in a manner consistent with the movie's 12-year-old protagonist…or would that be antagonist? What makes The Butcher Boy so compelling is the fact that while you have hope for Francie's future, it seems inevitable that things will turn out poorly for him. Despite this, the atrocities at the end of the film still come as an unwelcomed shock. See more 01/31/2022 I last saw this movie in the late 90's. It messed me up in my late twenties, but left such an impression on me that I still remember it. It was a glimpse into the madness of a troubled little boy, and how he came to be. At the time, it reminded me a lot of Pink Floyd's The Wall in terms of uncomfortable viewing it gave me. But clearly it left its mark, if I can still review it in 2022 and make out all of its parts. That's the mark of a good movie. See more William L 01/22/2022 Strange to see an Irish film from the '90s that doesn't have Brendan Gleeson somewhere in ... nope, no wait, there he is. A black comedy that leans more heavily towards tragic drama to develop its main character than its interesting surrealism, The Butcher Boy shows hints at a bizarre and entertaining take on adolescence and family breakdown but spends too much time on the grounded, distressing elements to keep the energy and interest level high. An exasperated chase scene finale that joins the cultural escape of an young midcentury kid with real-world brutality (equating his murder of the woman that he perceives as having stolen his best friend with a Lone Ranger-esque adventure) is too fun of a finale to really be satisfied with a buildup that is mostly just miserable moping and the occasional conversation with a vulgar Virgin Mary. Still, demonstrates a capable understanding of the climate of confusion and unpredictability of the Cold War coupled with American Western swagger, each coalescing into major personality traits of a disaffected kid with a bad home life. A slow start, but a strong finish, and featuring an unusually good performance from a child actor in Eamonn Owens' Francie, who convincingly delivers a unique combination of frustration, determination, and cruelty. And let's be clear, this kid was a little twerp well before his life started falling apart. (2.5/5) See more Read all reviews

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