Synopsis
A coming of age story set in 1975 working-class Brooklyn, in which two teenage brothers living with their abusive father and their well-meaning but ineffective mother are caught up in a life of petty crime. Older brother Danny concocts a daring scheme to steal enough money for the two to escape, timed around the chaos of an upcoming Rolling Stones concert. The sensitive younger brother, Brian, ultimately has a choice: remain loyal to the brother with whom he shares a powerful love-hate bond, or use his hidden talent as an artist as his own ticket out of their dead-end existence.
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Cast
- Nick ThurstonBrian Leary
- Geoffrey WigdorDanny Leary
- Karen AllenMargaret
- Stephen LangPatrick
- Peter RiegertWhitey
- Leslie MurphyShauna Friel
- Zachary BoothTodd McKay
- Robbie SublettRay Stone (as Robbie Collier Sublett)
- Anthony AmorimYoung Danny
- Daniel CarpenterGuy in Bar
Recommendations
- 75
Observer
A thoughtful coming-of-age story with bracing performances, solid writing and direction by John Gray and inescapable take-home values that give you a feel-good lift. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Could easily be filled with cliches but in the hands of filmmaker John Gray, it's a sparkling piece of entertainment that deserves a wide audience. - 70
Variety
A modestly engaging domestic drama that earns few points for originality but rewards aud attention with persuasive performances, outbursts of robust humor and a vivid yet understated evocation of time and place. - 50
Village Voice
Even though Gray is no raw-boned rookie-he has made TV movies for decades, plus, back in the day, a single Steven Seagal floater-his movie is rather inexcusably obvious, going for "troot," but recycling dese-dose-dem clichés already pressed into plastic lumber 25 years ago. - 50
The New York Times
Because Mr. Thurston and Mr. Wigdor lack the hard shells necessary to make their characters credible, White Irish Drinkers feels synthetic. Mr. Lang and the older cast members fare better, but they can't save a movie that runs on clichés. - 50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
From that title on down, White Irish Drinkers is a compendium of clichés struggling to upgrade its status and become a respectable archetype. - 40
Time Out
Atmosphere and acting can't save a script filled with easy-target irony ("Who ever heard of gettin' rich from workin' with computers?") and a plot that telegraphs every left turn miles in advance. - 40
Los Angeles Times
The clichés are what make White Irish Drinkers a drearily predictable bout, so much so that the decent last-round plot twist that momentarily dazes is immediately undercut by the sappy, life-changing-fuh-EV-uh jab telegraphed from the beginning.
