Bosco Hogan Movies

One man takes on the Irish family law system and the Catholic Church in a bid to be reunited with his children in this drama, based on a true story. In 1953, Desmond Doyle (Pierce Brosnan) was a house painter and decorator who, despite a strong work ethic, had a hard time holding on to steady work. Desmond's wife had grown tired of her marriage and her husband's financial problems, and one day walked away from her home, leaving Desmond to raise their three children on his own. While Desmond struggles to keep body and soul together for his children, his sporadic employment eventually attracts the attention of the law, and a court order sends his two sons and young daughter to separate Catholic orphanages until Desmond can prove he's capable of properly supporting them. However, Desmond discovers merely getting work is not enough to bring his children back to him, and when he learns that his daughter, Evelyn (Sophie Vavasseur), is having a rough time of it at the hands of several stern nuns, he becomes determined to win their custody in a court of law. Through Bernadette (Julianna Margulies), a barmaid who has caught his eye, Desmond meets Michael Beattie (Stephen Rea), a lawyer and Bernadette's brother. While Michael doesn't believe Desmond's case can be won in an Irish court, his partner Nick Barron (Aidan Quinn), an expatriate American who lost custody of his own children in a divorce proceeding, is eager to help, and they agree to take the case. However, they both realize they're fighting an uphill battle, and so they persuade Thomas Connolly (Alan Bates), a former football star who became one of Ireland's most respected barristers, to lend his knowledge and prestige to the case. Leading man Bronson also served a co-producer for Evelyn; Bruce Beresford directed, who previously collaborated with Pierce Brosnan on Mister Johnson. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The troubles in Northern Ireland are the backdrop for this made-for-television drama about an IRA hitman assigned to seek revenge against a defector. Patrick Bergin stars as Michael McGurk, an IRA terrorist who suffers from a guilty conscience after a bombing takes the lives of innocent citizens. After handing himself over to the police and turning on his former allies, McGurk and his family are shipped off to Australia as part of a witness protection program. Vowing to avenge the disloyalty to the Army, the IRA puts a hit out on McGurk and his family. Elliott Gould stars as Callaghan, the retired IRA hitman who is called upon to track down and murder the McGurks. Shot partially in Belfast, London, and Sydney, this political thriller has a running time of over three hours. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

Three purloined video tapes create all sorts of problems for the two teens who stole them in this horror trilogy that was originally made for television. The tapes they swiped, so they could have movie night with their girl friends, are "Killer Punch," featuring a cruel puppeteer using his craft to torment his family; "Scream House," about a young couple living in a house haunted by the spectre of a deranged killer; and "Garden of Blood," a chronicle of two hapless gardeners assigned to tend a haunted yard. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The eight-part British drama series Prince Regent recounts the life of the title figure (Peter Egan), who was rechristened King George IV when he became English monarch. His father and predecessor, George III, had squandered his youth and much of his wealth on a string of mistresses, two marriages (only one of them legal), and all manner of debauchery during his long and turbulent lifetime (1762-1830). According to this series, George IV/Regent was not so much wicked as he was bored and restless, awaiting the death of his father while the older man grew more insane with each passing year, seriously jeopardizing the future of the British empire -- and his son's place within the realm. Prince Regent first aired in the U.K. beginning September 4, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Producer/director Joseph Strick continues his long cinematic love affair with the works of Irish author James Joyce in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Bosco Hogan plays Joyce's alter-ego Stephen Daedelus, an irrepressible boy at eternal odds with the strictures of his Catholic home and family. As in his earlier adaptation of Joyce's Ulysses, Strick manages to successfully convey the liquidity and ideology of Joyce's challenging literary style. Also like Ulysses, however, the director is stronger with monologues than with visuals. Joseph Strick's own son Terence plays the artist as an even younger man. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A resident of 23rd-century Earth becomes involved in a revolution after discovering the hidden truth about society's rulers in director John Boorman's sci-fi drama. Sean Connery plays Zed, the central rebel, who begins the film as a member of the Exterminators, a band of skilled assassins who exact a reign of terror over the lesser Brutals. The Exterminators answer only to their god, a gigantic stone image known as Zardoz. Haunted by doubt about Zardoz's true divinity, Zed chooses to investigate. His disbelief is confirmed when the god proves to be a fraudulent tool of the Eternals, a secret society of brilliant immortals who pretend to divinity in order to exploit the masses. Knowing the truth, Zed sets out to reveal the hoax and destroy the Eternals' unjust rule. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi