Black Irish is a movie revolves round an Irish-American family set in Boston. The young protagonist Cole McKay (Michael Angarano) was a meritorious student of a Catholic school. As he was proceeding towards taking up the profession of priesthood, he discovered that his elder sister Kathleen (Emily VanCamp) is pregnant without being married, his brother Terry (Tom Guiry) a hooligan, father Desmond (Brendan Gleeson) a drunkard and mother (Melissa Leo) leading an unhappy married life. The family turmoil over their unwed daughter’s pregnancy and other troubles had forced Cole to leave his studies and took up a job in a restaurant. The story went on to narrate how Cole, also a basketball player, managed to cope with the situation around him.
The film starts out as a well-cast character study but that approach ultimately loses out in favor of an excess of melodramatic developments. There’s simply too much tragedy for the film to properly handle and a climactic showdown involving guns is worse than ludicrous. It is disappointing. The screenplay has failed to cobble together so many complex situations. Despite the flaws, this coming-of-age tale is well intentioned and interesting enough to be respectable viewing for teen audiences. Screenwriter and director Brad Gann makes a rookie mistake in his directorial debut by filling his movie with big events instead of keeping the focus on his interesting characters and fine actors.
The acting, despite having overdose of melodramatic situations and dialogues, are praiseworthy. All of them acted true to the spirit of the characters. Special mention should be made to Emily VanCamp who carried herself well as a liberated woman against the orthodox family. The lead actor young Michael Angarano portrayed well the agony of an adolescent in a morally complex society. Their talents could have earned more praise had the director given them a more well orchestrated story and its proper direction.
