Leofwine_draca BORSTAL BOY is a thoughtful prison drama based on the true-life experiences of Irish poet Brendan Bahen. The story is a political and reflective one in which Bahen, then part of the IRA, is captured by the authorities during WW2 and sent to live at a borstal in hated England. While there he discovers that the enemy are not all that they seem and that they might not be so bad after all...Certainly the DVD cover is a piece of blatant false advertising, adorned in barbed wire and featuring a recent photo of Danny Dyer covered in stubble, no doubt from one of his gangster flicks. In actual fact, an incredibly youthful Dyer appears only in support, although his performance as a friendly sailor is a good one. And this isn't your usual tough prison drama at all - although there are elements of the genre here (rape, escape) they're handled in a deliberately sensitive and non-sensationalist way.Throughout the story the human drama is paramount, and thus this proves a fitting reflection of the times in much the same way as a Catherine Cookson TV movie reflects life in the early 20th century north. The only problem I have with it is that Shawn Hatosy's acting is a little wooden.

Raul Faust I started watching this movie knowing almost nothing about it. Once it began, it gave me the idea it would be a dramatic story about two enemies who turn out as friend in the end. The story is not that original or anything, but it kept me entertained, since I enjoy movies involving prison system and its consequences. However, the movie got into its climax and I couldn't identify what was its purpose; were Brendan and Milwall good friends or simply lovers? My complaint is that the movie doesn't choose if it's a story about friendship or romance, so you don't know what is clearly the message of the movie. In fact, you don't even know what are the real Brendan's feelings-- maybe even he doesn't know. The escaping scene is pure fun and a showing of young's seek for freedom, and we all can understand the young boys for doing that. Other than that, the theater scene is a little implausible, since I hardly doubt they'd have such materials to make a beautiful stage and outfit like that. So that's it, "Borstal Boy" is well acted and directed, but the story could (should) be more clear, in order to know what it is really trying to show. Good/average movie anyways.

gpadillo What a surprise of a little movie. Young American actor Shawn Hatosy (he's from Frederick, Maryland) gives an astonishing performance as IRA teen gone wrong, Irish writer Brendan Behan. Hatosy's "angry young man" is sincerely angry, but there are cracks in that tough veneer that show a sensitive, thoughtful kid wanting to break out. (Measure Hatosy's performance from "Outside Providence" to "Borstal Boy" and we're looking at a young actor of exceptional depth and promise.)At the reformatory Borstal, Brendan discovers new hardships: living, eating and sleeping with his enemies. He learns however, that deep down, our enemies have the same needs, wants, fears and desires as we do ourselves. His budding friendship with the openly gay sailor, Charlie Milwal - despite its rocky beginning, captures the joy and frustration of having a best friend and through this friendship each learns how to understand, forgive and love. As Charlie, Danny Dyer gives a performance which is in every regard as equally deep as Hatosy's. Brendan's taking to fellow Irishman Oscar Wilde and his eventual barnhouse production of "The Importance of Being Earnest" mounted by the young convicts for their fellow inmates. This is an absolute joy and becomes almost the fulcrum from which the story veers into its final direction.Michael York, Eva Birthistle and the rest of the ensemble all contribute fine performances (particularly Ms. Birthistle who, as a secondary love interest doesn't arrive until a good half way through the story and is both beautiful and touching). Director Peter Sheridan crams an almost unbelievable amount of story into into a mere 90 minutes so the film flies by. The ending may be a bit abrupt tying things up too tidily, but this is a minor quibble in a stunning, touching gem of a movie.

gianniz In wartime England a reform school headed by a benign warden harbors troublemakers of different nationalities. The IRA rascal, brilliantly played by an American, Sean Hatosy, is just one of the boys whose antics propel Sheridan's film through comic scenes to a finale of loss and sadness. Sheridan's cutting is quick and deft, and, except for the last 10 minutes the plot skillfully avoids the pitfalls of sentimentality.Warning to new directors: pop songs on a movie soundtrack can be injurious to your film, as it is here, along with a peculiarly stagy ending in an Irish railway station, where the hero vanishes into clouds of steam. Otherwise the film is very moving, and certainly one of the best investigations ever into the rightness of feelings of love. Defying the long and awesome tradition of Irish verbal art, Sheridan demonstrates that sometimes silence is the best way to express the feelings that attend separation. The inmates' production of Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" is a small triumph. The entire film is a huge triumph for director Sheridan. See it in a theater with a good sound system: sometimes the Irish-accented English can be hard to grasp.