A few seconds into this movie it became apparent this was an American movie (eeew!), and set in Boston, no less, with their comically god awful accents and mookish, white trash characters. Apart from that, this movie suffers from basic filmcraft issues. At several points the boom microphone is actually visible over head, and not even just for a little bit, but a long time.

Black Irish is a gritty, street-level view of life on the poor side of town. The characters were vivid and well defined. The writing was solid and the acting was well done. This film did a great job capturing the blue-collar innercity Irish.
Some of the negative comments left here would lead me to believe that some of these viewers had no clue what they were watching. One of them criticized the cinematography. It's called art; the dreary greyed-out, fuzzy look was to set the "life sucks but you're stuck with it" mood of the film.
Yes, there were some production gaffs. the boom mics were clearly visible multiple times. That happens on low-budget films where you only have time and resources for one or two takes. The movie "Shane," which was set in the 1800s had a semi-truck drive through in the distance, John Wayne's "True grit" had a 747 fly overhead. But those stories, and I think this one also, was told well enough to overlook those faults.

Some very good scenes and some very bad ones. Some very good actors and some bad phony Irish accents. I counted seven different scenes where the boom mike was clearly dangling overhead. That's not just amateurish, it's grossly negligent. Despite all that I stayed interested all the way through. The kid was good.

"Black Irish" is a captivating, moving, faithfully rendered, coming of age story set in south Boston. It lifts the veil and enables us to see how resentment, self-righteousness, alcoholism, lack of self-control and rebelliousness tear families and communities apart. It also shows how destructive the tendency to divide life up into sacred and secular compartments can be. The McKay family could have benefited from the belief that God can be exalted on a baseball diamond or in any proper job. The movie shows how pain can sometimes bring people together, and it does all of this with a blend of pathos and humor. For example, I loved the scene when Mrs. McKay asks Terry to forgive her, but I also loved Cole's first date scene. Warning: first dates can be harmful to birds and to audience members who laugh too hard. Rated R for some thematic elements, language and brief violence.

It was hard to stay engaged in the story due to distractions like the boom microphone showing up over and over, the set lighting visible repeatedly....what a shame to waste such good actors.

I have no idea how this film was shot, but it's simply unwatchable. The film stock, the lens and the focus of the film are completely off!! Unbelievable!!

The writers of this script did a very poor job of portraying an important message. Violence does not solve anything.

I grew up in the city of Woodside, Queens New York. The whole neighborhood was Irish Catholic and as the mother in this movie protests the daughter's decision to have an abortion and cart her away so the neighbors won't talk. This also was the Black Irish of Woodside. In the end the mother was right and therefore my mom and dad had 11 children. I used to ask her why she had so many kids and she would say, "who would you like me to give back?" Then she'd name my siblings from the oldest to the youngest and I'd shiver in fear of the thought of losing any of them.

I had a tough older brother who always was getting into trouble and I was the passive one. It took the police to get him back into shape in his early teen years but since about the age of 19 he has been a fine upstanding citizen since with a wife from Woodside. In fact my other brother married her sister so it's all in the neighborhood. Since then we have all moved away from Woodside which looks like a different country now.

Yes my dad was as stubborn as the father here. He drank every day but did what ever he could to support us. He had a fine job with Ma Bell phone company for 25 years and used to wash down the altar at St. Theresa's Church and school around the corner to help pay the tuition. He died at 52 from cancer but not before holding his first grandchild who is Afro-American/Irish and the gem of our hearts.

I felt like I was watching my life pass by my eyes. My cousins live in Boston and they're the same as us but we didn't get to see each other as much as we wanted growing up since it was hard to bring 11 children over for the weekend.

My friend is of Danish ancestory and he enjoyed it as much as I did. I saw his tears swell in many of the scenes. Terry was tough from lack of understanding and love and when he reached out to the Marine recruiter he was cut down again. Cole loved his whole family as much as Terry but Cole had the ability to share it, keep quiet when he knew talking would do no good but persisted in his dreams. My first job was also in a fine Italian eatery. Like another reviewer the bird scene on Cole's first date is hysterical.

If ever there was a movie that was pitch perfect to the fact it surely is this one. I must say to another reviewer that streets are empty in a movie so the viewer can see the scenery otherwise if it was packed as I'm sure it usually is one might not know where they are.

The police also let us get away with things that were not so much crimminal but not always upright. Of course they also were Irish Catholic too. Everyone knew everyone.

Another great movie that's out on DVD is In Burges[[ASIN:B0018BD9DA In Bruges]]with the father from this movie and Colin Farell. It's not in the states but it's funny as all get out. My father was born in Galway, Ireland with his thick black Irish hair and my mother's mother was from County Claire.

Someone give that guy back his $24. I'm sorry he didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of us and I believe it's totally unfair to give it one star. But he certainly has the right to say what he thinks of it as we all have our own opinions.