Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

leo811 saw the mighty celt at a local irish film festival and it was horrible. once again, scriptwriters use violence towards animals as a cheap tug at audience emotion, where their imagination falls short. the animal cruelty is superfluous. the advert and trailer are misleading. both reflect happy in the photo used to promote and the music in the trailer. as well, the trailer barely shows a hint of the violence and only in hindsight. shame on the filmmakers for making such a padded piece, on the marketers for misleading the public, and the festival for supporting such a film. BAD BAD BAD!!! it was a waste of time, i could have stayed home and adored my cat. it was a waste of money that i don't have, but like to support local festivals. if it wasn't for the company i was with i would have walked out the first scene.

danakate2502 After waiting a year for this movie (everyone on GAGC was waiting from pre-production onwards!), I must say that it was indeed worth the wait. The acting was superb (wee Tyrone McKenna was some discovery! Hope to see him in other productions!) and the accents virtually flawless considering that the main actors aren't even Northern Irish. I found this film to be engrossing and had to prevent myself from almost chanting "Go Celt!" during the greyhound-racing sequences! It's not often that you find a film you can't take your eyes off, but I'd definitely count this as one of them! This is a wee gem of a film and if you get a chance to see it on the big screen, GO FOR IT!!!

pandabat Gillian Anderson as a single mother from Northern Ireland. Never in my days of salivating over her in the X-Files (though not in a 'Tooms'-like fashion) did I think that I'd see her playing such a role in such a movie as this. It's basically a down to earth, straightforward story of a boy growing up in a nation that itself is only beginning to grow after 30 years of 'the Troubles' (a local war with Nationalist and Unionist terrorists along the lines of modern day Iraq but not half as brutal and deadly). The boy in question has an interest in and love for greyhounds which race for money, much as in horse racing. His relationships with the greyhound trainer that he's known for years and a new male influence in his life, who returns to Northern Ireland after being on the run for years, inevitably leads to conflict which ultimately leads to a simple resolution which is just a bit too clean and rushed in the final reels. There are no alarms and no surprises and everyone acts well enough. Despite the lack of deep thought, complicated plots, astounding cinematography, explosive special effects, etc. it's not bad though and neither is Anderson's accent. A time filler for an 84 minute gap in your life that you have little else to do with.

CoffeeSmoker I found TMC to be a well made, well conceived piece, funny, touching, distressing (intentionally) and the tone was just right. Apparently there was a reel missing, I didn't notice, but am looking forward to see the final cut, hopefully there is more of Gillian is in it, as I felt she should have been used more in this film. She brings wonderful comic timing, and the expertly repressed emotional angst, which admirers of her work will have become accustomed to. With one look, her eyes tell more about her character's emotional state, than a thousand words uttered by any lesser actress. There is one scene in particular that this is apparent, when there is a close-up of Kate is looking in the mirror, psyching herself up for the day.Robert Carlyle gives a sensitive performance as ex-IRA member O. He could so easily have played the part as either someone shifty and not to be trusted, or gone the other way and played the martyr, luckily, the role was written very well, with no judgement either way of the political situation in Belfast, so the audience never feels they are having a political agenda shoved down their throat, we are just witnessing a slice of life as seen from the perspective of a young boy.Witch brings me to Tyronne McKenna, who steals the movie from underneath everyone else. An (as yet) unknown actor, he shows an remarkable emotional, without ever seeming insincere or overacted, not like other child actors who make you want to scream into a pillow! He is in most scenes of the film, and he carries the burden with aplomb.All in all, I was impressed by this film, a great way to open the Dublin Film Festival, and part of, what could be, a golden year for Irish cinema.