''Black Irish'' is a 2007 American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film directed, written, and co-produced by Brad Gann. It stars

Michael Angarano Michael Anthony Angarano (born December 3, 1987) is an American actor. He became known for his roles in the film ''Music of the Heart'' (1999) and the television series '' Cover Me'' (2000–2001), as well as for playing a recurring role as Elli ...

Brendan Gleeson Brendan Gleeson (born 29 March 1955) is an Irish actor. He has received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, two British Independent Film Awards and three IFTA Awards, along with nominations for an Academy Award, three BAFTA Aw ...

Tom Guiry Thomas John Guiry (born October 12, 1981) is an American actor. He is best known for his lead performance as Scott "Scotty" Smalls in the coming-of-age film ''The Sandlot,'' which was filmed when he was 12, and his role in NBC crime drama ''The Bl ...

Emily VanCamp Emily Irene VanCamp (; born May 12, 1986) is a Canadian actress. She gained acclaim and international recognition for portraying the lead role of Emily Thorne on the ABC series ''Revenge'' (2011–2015). She also starred on the Fox medical dra ...

, and

Melissa Leo Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and two Critics' Choice A ...

and tells the story of a

South Boston South Boston (colloquially known as Southie) is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay (Boston Harbor), Dorchester Bay. It has under ...

youngster trying to win the affection of his emotionally remote father and maintain intimacy with other members of his

dysfunctional In psychology, abnormality (also dysfunctional behavior, maladaptive behavior, or deviant behavior) is a behavioral characteristic assigned to those with conditions that are regarded as dysfunctional. Behavior is considered to be abnormal when i ...

clan.

Plot

Sixteen-year-old Cole McKay’s struggle for independence is put to the test as his

Irish-Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

family implodes around him. Older brother Terry is descending into a life of drugs and crime, pregnant sister Kathleen is being sent away to cover up the shame of unwed motherhood and Cole’s father, Desmond, spends his days in a fog of alcohol and self-pity, silently torturing himself over what might have been. The one thing keeping young Cole’s head above water is his love of baseball. The movie starts with Cole practicing his pitching, when he is picked up by his family to attend the funeral of Desmond's sister. A talented

baseball pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws (" pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, Cole overcomes self-doubt and family indifference to fight his way into the state championships. To get there he must make a life or death decision, one that will change the McKay family forever.

Cast

as Cole McKay *

as Desmond McKay *

as Terry McKay *

as Kathleen McKay *

as Margaret McKay *

Michael Rispoli Michael Rispoli (born November 27, 1960) is an American character actor. He was a contender for the role of Tony Soprano in the HBO television series ''The Sopranos,'' but was ultimately cast as Jackie Aprile Sr., Jackie Aprile, a recurring ch ...

as Joey *

Francis Capra Francis Cordero Capra (born April 27, 1983) is an American actor. He has played the roles of Max Connor in ''Kazaam'', and Eli "Weevil" Navarro in the TV series ''Veronica Mars''. Personal life Capra attended Our Lady of the Assumption Catho ...

as Anthony * Wilson Better as Graves * Bonnie Dennison as Maria * Finn Curtin as Coach Mahoney * Frank T. Wells as Father Magruder *

Kevin Chapman Kevin Chapman (born July 29, 1962) is an American actor known for playing an assortment of characters ranging from the obnoxious brother Terrence Garrity in FX's ''Rescue Me (American TV series), Rescue Me'' to street enforcer Val Savage in Clin ...

as Officer Pierce * Bates Wilder as Officer Cowen * Joe McEachern as Officer Gianelli * John Fiore as Tommy Orsini

Release

The film premiered at the

Newport Beach Film Festival The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) is an annual film festival in Newport Beach, California, typically held in late April. In 2022, it was announced that the festival had permanently changed its date to be held in October, as the festival bega ...

on 20 April 2007. It received a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

, opening in Los Angeles, New York City and Boston on 26 October 2007. It was released on DVD on 8 January 2008 in the US and Canada.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

the film has an approval rating of 31% based on reviews from 13 critics.

References

External links