Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Irishchatter I thought this movie was so so well done because of course its based on a true story of went on in Catholic Ireland and the acting was brilliant. It was very sad though when one of the poor boys was killed by that violent priest Brother John. Sure that was what happened back then, young boys and girls were so badly brought up in a place where they were meant to be looked after but instead, were betrayed by the priests, nuns and the state who operated the institutions. The scene that made me more angry just as the boy being killed by that priest was, they let the two disgraced priests go from the institution. There was no such thing as arresting a priest back then even with murder, they got special treatment somewhere to "clean themselves up". Honestly, the Catholic Church was disgraceful and disgusting for letting these miserable perverts get away with what they done. The real William Franklin was such a good person for making sure the boys were looked after properly with their education and like, at least he wasn't brainwashed like the rest of the Church Hierarchy. Its too bad he didn't save one. Brilliant movie, kudos to all cast involved!

Rich Wright In the vein of Dead Poet's Society, we have another inspirational teacher turning up at a staid, formal school in Ireland and transforming the lives of the pupils with his vim and vigour. Only these lads have more problems than most... for a start, they're thought of as little more than animals to be abused and beaten, and there's a bible bashing priest there who'll stop at nothing to show this modern educator and his 'new age' methods the door. Let battle commence...This is quite episodic in content, as we lurch from the boys learning to read and appreciate poetry for the first time, to the nice tutor's various encounters with the psychotic clergyman... which usually revolve round his attempts to stop the holy man from beating the kids black and blue with a strap for mild infractions. To all intents and purposes, misbehaving in Ireland was not a good idea, lest you end up in one of these religious hellholes. (See also: The Magdalene Sisters).Like the mad priest's belt, it certainly leaves an impact as you see these youngsters come out of their shells and start to make progress away from a restricted regime, but the formula which has been done to death as mentioned and this particular movie doesn't really add much more to the table. Even the 'surprise' tragedy can be predicted long before the end. Still, it does have a fair few moving moments, and the suffering these youths endure show that no matter how hard my life was at boarding school, it certainly doesn't compare to this cruelty... 6/10

KEG1959 A superb movie. Well acted by the whole cast. Based in a Irish young offenders institution at the start of the second world war, though this is only mentioned inpassing. It's horrrific to think that it is based on a true story - thank god we have moved into a more civilizes way of dealing with young offenders. Being a 'true' story the bad guys don't actually seem to get the sort of punishment (one is a child abuser, the other is a sadist)that a fictional film would give them. Similar in style and story feel to 'Sleepers'.Not for the faint hearted - like 'Sleepers' the sexual abuse is not filmed and totally left to the viewers imagination which in many ways is worse. The violence is appropriate but not overly graphic. Similar sort of happy ending but with a sting in the tail. Well worth watching. Highly recommended.

Eoin I'd like to ask what morons have thrashed this great movie. You see there are people who have no idea what makes a good movie and they write crap.Like the guy who said it was an awful movie and that it was too predictable.Well its based on a true story.I don't think people understand that this type of thing happened here,it happened for decades and the story needed to be told.Most reviews have said this movie is useless,mainly because it is just "another" abuse story.So what?There have been movies about abuse made up,but this is based on things that happened form the 40's to the 80's.These boys were sexually and physically abused and it was ignored,there was no one to help them.Some reviews I have read seem to hint that they do not like the movie because it makes the priests out to be evil and they don't want their religion hurt.Well Ill tell you this,some of them were evil,of course not all of them,but yes,some of them were the definition of evil.If this movie doesn't hit you in a way that nearly makes you cry,then you have something wrong with you.And just look at all the awards it got from film festivals.Great movie,great acting,Aiden Quinn was brilliant as were the kids.4 out of 5.