Brendan Behan, a sixteen year-old republican, is going on a bombing mission from Ireland to Liverpool during the second world war. His mission is thwarted when he is apprehended, charged and imprisoned in Borstal, a reform institution for young offenders in East Anglia, England. At Borstal, Brendan is forced to live face-to-face with those he perceived as "the enemy," a confrontation that reveals a deep inner conflict in the young Brendan and forces a self-examination that is... (Full plot summary below)
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Brendan Behan, a sixteen year-old republican, is going on a bombing mission from Ireland to Liverpool during the second world war. His mission is thwarted when he is apprehended, charged and imprisoned in Borstal, a reform institution for young offenders in East Anglia, England. At Borstal, Brendan is forced to live face-to-face with those he perceived as "the enemy," a confrontation that reveals a deep inner conflict in the young Brendan and forces a self-examination that is both traumatic and revealing. Events take an unexpected turn and Brendan is thrown into a complete spin. In the emotional vortex, he finally faces up to the truth.
Leave your thoughts about Borstal Boy.
| Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonIt's really a crock: a coming-of-age boys' prison film that has only a fanciful link with Behan's life. The film is a bastard grandchild of Tony Richardson's 1962 "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner." |
| OregonianKim MorganSheridan had a wonderful account to work from, but, curiously, he waters it down, turning grit and vulnerability into light reading. |
| New TimesLuke Y. ThompsonHatosy's Irish accent was way better than I expected. |
| New TimesAndy KleinThough exploring, among other things, fallibility, homosexuality, injustice and loss, the picture seems afraid to really make any kind of strong statement, whether political or psychological. |
| Internet ReviewsSteve Rhodes"I blame all men for war," [the warden's daughter] tells her father. The movie is about as deep as that sentiment. |
| Miami HeraldConnie OgleAn important and interesting story, but the reform school itself never seems terribly harsh. |
| New York Magazine/VulturePeter RainerFor all its triteness, Sheridan's sentimentality has its poignancy: This adolescent boy is all set up to live out a halcyon life he'll never have. |
| L.A. WeeklyJohn PattersonOverall Sheridan keeps both "Oirishry" and sentimentality in check. He captures the book's evenhanded sense. |
| San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleThe result is a film that will probably please people already fascinated by Behan but leave everyone else yawning with admiration. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMy problem with Borstal Boy isn't so much with the facts as with the tone. |
