''Blackbird'' is a 2018

spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond film ...

directed, produced, written by and starring

Michael Flatley Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958) is an Irish-American dancer. He became known for Irish dance shows ''Riverdance'', '' Lord of the Dance'', ''Feet of Flames'', and '' Celtic Tiger Live''. Flatley's shows have played to more than 60 mil ...

. With a release delayed for several years, ''Blackbird'' was dismissed as a vanity project by the entertainment press, Brian Lloyd of entertainment.ie comparing Flatley to

Tommy Wiseau Thomas P. Wiseau ( or ) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for writing, producing, directing, and starring in the 2003 film '' The Room'', which has been described by many critics as one of the worst films ever made and has gained ...

of ''

The Room ''The Room'' is a 2003 American drama film written, produced, executive produced and directed by Tommy Wiseau, who stars in the film alongside Juliette Danielle and Greg Sestero. The film centers on a melodramatic love triangle between ami ...

'' infamy.

Plot

The secret agent "Blackbird" retires and opens a nightclub in the Caribbean to escape his past. A former lover comes to meet him, but brings trouble with her.

Cast

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in '' King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes ...

as Blake *

Patrick Bergin Patrick Connolly Bergin (born 4 February 1951) is an Irish actor and singer perhaps best known for his leading role opposite Julia Roberts in '' Sleeping with the Enemy'' (1991), the title character in Robin Hood (1991 film), terrorist Kevin ...

as The Head *

Ian Beattie Ian Beattie (born 3 March 1965) is an actor from People of Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland. He is best known for playing Antigonus I Monophthalmus, Antigonus in the film ''Alexander (2004 film), Alexander'' (2004) and Ser List of A Song of I ...

as Nick *Rachel Warren as Brea *Serhat Metin as Muhammed *Nicole Evans as Vivian *

as Victor Blackley

Production

Filming took place in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns ar ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate ...

. It was largely financed by Flatley himself.

Release

The first screening was a June 2018 private showing for cast and crew at the Stella Cinema,

Rathmines Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to ...

, Dublin; ''Blackbird'' was shown at

The May Fair Hotel The May Fair Hotel is a luxury hotel on Stratton Street in Mayfair, London, near the site of Devonshire House in Piccadilly. It opened in 1927 with King George V and Queen Mary in attendance. The hotel is now owned by Edwardian Hotels, and ...

, London as part of the

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove to ...

on 28 September 2018. In 2018, Flatley claimed to be in

pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content st ...

for ''Blackbird 2''. However, there was little news on a general release of ''Blackbird'', fuelling speculation about the film's quality. In 2019, Brian Lloyd of entertainment.ie wrote a lengthy investigation of the film, finding out that "over 200 people attended the screening of 'Blackbird', and so far as can be reasonably determined, none of them were journalists or critics. When asked if perhaps the jury of Raindance Film Festival may have seen 'Blackbird', avid Martinez, a festival producer with Raindancesays this did not take place." A general release of the film to Irish cinemas had been announced for September 2, 2022. The film premiered August 2022 in the Light House Cinema in Dublin.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American 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, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 22% based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 2.00 out of 10. Film critic Mark Kermode said the film was “one of the worst films I’ve ever seen”. Peter Bradshaw of ''The Guardian'' gave the film one out of five stars, lambasting the writing and directing, remarking, 'In a way, it is amazing that Flatley is able to fulfil a 12-year-old boy’s fantasy of being a secret agent, with a 12-year-old’s idea of what a secret agent actually does. The acting and writing are like the non-sexy bits that come between the sexy bits in a porn film made in 1985.'. Ed Power in '' The Telegraph'' also gave it one out of five stars, dubbing it 'unintentionally hilarious.' ''

Empire Magazine ''Empire'' is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. The first issue was published in May 1989. History David Hepworth of Emap, the publisher of British music magazines '' Q'' and ''Smash Hits'', among other titles ...

s Ian Freer opined, 'By far the best performance in the film is by Flatley’s seemingly endless collection of hats, the jaunty angle of a trilby suggesting more emotion than the actor ever does'.https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/blackbird/

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 8246646 2018 films 2010s English-language films 2010s British films British spy thriller films Films shot in County Cork Films shot in Barbados Films set in Barbados Films set in London