it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I'm an avid history buff - particularly interested in WW2. I did not know until watching this film the first time that Ireland was neutral during WW2. Who knew? Obviously not me.The acting is great and very believable. The scenes are beautiful - right out of an Irish painting - and the plot is engaging. Some very good American and British humor, to boot.Just to be on the safe side, let me warn you that SPOILERS FOLLOW.The only negatives to the film were I found it hard to believe that a British bomber would make it all the way back from a raid over the Continent and overfly England to over Ireland and not realize they weren't still over France. "'Clocks' shot out" or otherwise, that one seemed a bit of a stretch.And, I love a movie where the "guy gets the girl." So, I was disappointed that Miles died and the German Count actually returned after the War to marry Mattie. At least they named their kid "Miles."

The story of the internees in Ireland during the Second World War is a fascinating one that I was familiar with, and after hearing of this film, I thought I would give it a watch. It's a very pleasant way to spend an hour and three-quarters, though it probably will not go down in history as a world-changing piece of art. You couldn't fault the period detail and the acting throughout is of a high standard. The script, directing, and all the rest is good. I suppose part of the problem with the film is that the absurdity of the story probably doesn't translate terribly well to a film. As a result the film has to work quite hard to make the story dramatic. It perhaps goes over the top a little with the "WE ARE IN IRELAND!" details (perhaps because it is filmed on the Isle of Man?) I enjoyed the subtle visual hints (the bored horse standing next to a green phone box) and the plot details (each one of the fourteen hundred camp guards being either 'Seamus' or 'Sean'). Anyway, it's an independent movie, and for all that is very professionally done and well put together. If you see it coming on the telly one wet Sunday afternoon, don't turn it off - I'm sure you'll find much to like in it.

The Brylcreem Boys takes as its subject matter a fascinating true situation but doesn't really seem to know what to do with it. Set in the neutral Republic of Ireland during WWII the story revolves around a group of British and German servicemen who find themselves interned in the same POW camp, separated by only a thin strip of land between two fortified fences through which they trade insults. And that's pretty much it, really. There's an unremarkable romance between a Canadian serving in the British RAF (Bill Campbell) and a comely local lass (Jean Butler), and a predictably resolved rivalry between him and German officer Count Rudolph von Stegenbek (Angus McFadyen), but for most of the movie you get the impression that the writers didn't really know what to do with the subject matter.The basic premise would seem to lend itself to a comedy in the vein of an old Ealing production: a prison camp from which none of the allied forces wish to escape, where their pay slips are received monthly, from which they receive day-passes to visit the local race meetings, and in which the only bars are the type that serve pints of beer. The comic possibilities would seem endless but the humour here is almost non-existent, as are any elements of suspense or tension, and the writers seem to approach certain aspects that could be of interest – the effect on Stegenbek of learning that his comrades slaughtered a French farming family who shielded Keogh (Campbell) for example – only to back off once the ground work is complete. The inevitable escape attempt, when it finally arrives, is glossed over in a few scenes, and the fate of the principals announced by a voice-over. All in all, while the film has some entertainment value, it's a big disappointment. And for my money any film about British POWs that casts a couple of actors from Charlottesville, Virginia and Dallas, Texas as the lead RAF characters has irreparably compromised itself from the outset.

Broadway productions such as The Irish and How They Got That Way by Frank McCourt, movies such as Waking Ned Devine, books suchas Angela's Ashes by McCourt, music by the 3 Irish Tenors and the magnificent serial from Ireland, Ballykissangel, are all testimony to the "endearing charms" of Ireland and things Irish. All have drama, sense of humor and sadness - the Irish personality. This movie has a new twist, a philosophical expression of anti-war morality. Gabriel Byrne and all of the actors portraying the Allies, the Germans and the Irish in WWII, give us entertainment plus a lot to think about. This is a thoroughly enjoyable movie and the Irish dancers are great