Brendan Conroy Movies

Adapted from the stage play The Kings of the Kilburn high Road by Jimmy Murphy, writer/director Tom Collins' incisive examination of the Irish immigrant experience stars Colm Meany, Donal O'Kelly, Brendan Conroy, Donncha Crowley, and Barry Barnes as a group of longtime friends unable to let go of the past. When their mate Jackie (Sean O' Tarpaigh) dies suddenly under a subway car, a group of old Irish friends now living in London come together to celebrate his life. Thirty years ago this crew from Connemara was young and full of hope, but these days most of them have sunken into a dire world of drink and depression. Joe (Meany) may have proven the most financially successful of the group, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he has overcome his demons- he simply chooses to indulge in expensive cocaine rather than cheap liquor. Jap (O'Kelly) and Git (Conroy) largely view the world through the bottom of a bottle, Mairtin (Barnes) is struggling to wean himself from spirits and hold on to his family, and contented vegetable vendor Shay (Crowley) has finally embraced his lowered expectations. The only one who doesn't seem steeped in nostalgia is Jackie's father Micil (Peadar O'Treasaigh) - who has recently arrived from Ireland to claim his son's body. Later, when the group heads out to the bar, the liquor flows freely and the accusations begin to fly. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The ghosts of Jonathan Swift and friends pay a visit to two Dublin spiritualists in this Irish drama, adapted from Yeat's one-act play. In 1928, Miss McKenna, an aging spinster and the head of the Dublin Spiritual Society invites a visiting medium, Mrs. Henderson over to try to contact Jonathan Swift. He comes with his two women in tow. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The magic of folklore forms the basis of this Irish tale by writer-director John Sayles. Adapted from the book Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry, the 1940s story is told from the point-of-view of Fiona (Jeni Courtney), a young girl sent to live with her grandparents in an Irish fishing town. Her grandfather weaves grand stories about the family's evacuation from their home on the tiny island of Roan Inish and about his great-great grandfather, who once cheated death at the hands of the unforgiving sea. As she meets other villagers, Fiona hears even more personal stories about an uncle who married a beautiful, part-human/ part-seal and about how the sea stole her baby brother during the departure from Roan Inish. Later, Fiona believes that she has found Jamie romping in the grass on Roan Inish, and she must convince the family of her vision. While Roan Inish has the feel of a family film, it shares with other Sayles works a character who learns history through storytelling, such as Sam Deeds in Lone Star (1996) and Dr. Fuentes in Men with Guns (1997). Sayles builds cohesive stories from multiple voices, showing the importance of oral history and indicating that learning the past can alter the future. ~ Norm Schrager, All Movie Guide

This period drama about the American Revolution has an overlay of rhetoric that thwarts the action, flattening out the story about a man and his loved ones caught up in the events of the time. Tom Dobb (Al Pacino) falls in love with Daisy McConnahay (Nastassja Kinski), an aristocrat who deserts her class to fight alongside the rebels. Tom teaches his son Ned (Dexter Fletcher) everything he needs to learn, though the growing rebellion consumes most of his attention. Eventually, the Redcoats are mowed down in large battle scenes, as the ragtag Colonialists go to war. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This fourth film dramatization of the 1789 mutiny aboard the H.M.S. Bounty is based not on the familiar Nordhoff and Hall book, but on Richard Hough's novel Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian. This time, the infamous Captain Bligh (Anthony Hopkins) is as strict a disciplinarian as ever. He is, however, no monster; faced with his crew's increasing laxity after an idyllic visit to Tahiti (the search for breadfruit takes second place to limitless sex with the island girls), Bligh is forced to resort to flogging and other such means to keep his men in line. Mr. Christian (Mel Gibson), formerly Bligh's friend, is of little use to the captain, having fallen in love with a native girl himself. Christian becomes the leader of the mutiny virtually in spite of himself; and when the mutineers try to seek refuge on Tahiti, they find that the local chief wants no part of them, which is why they settle for the nearly uninhabitable Pitcairn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On Christmas Eve, the Yeates have a carriage accident, and unfortunately for them, one of the injured victims is none other than the aptly named Oweneen the Sprat, one of the nasty "mountainy" men living in the hills. On Christmas Day, the Major's household receives a threatening note from the hill-dweller demanding money. To exacerbate matters further, the Major returns home the next day to find that his wife and staff have been terrified by the appearance of a sprat nailed to the door of their home. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide