White Irish Drinkers

3/4

Starring: Nick Thurston, Geoff Wigdor, Karen Allen, Stephen Lang, Peter Riegert, Leslie Murphy

Rated R for Pervasive Language, Some Sexuality and Violence

Coming-of-age stories are a dime a dozen because we all have to grow up sometime.  Childhood ends and adulthood begins, but this change occurs much differently from one person to the next.  Often times, it’s a process, but sometimes, all it takes is one event.

Brian Leary (Thurston) is a young Irish Catholic living in Brooklyn in the 1970s.  He’s a happy go lucky kid, which is more than can be said about his family.  His older brother Danny (Wigdor), is a small-time criminal with a hair trigger temper, his father, Paddy (Lang) is a drunk, and his mother, Margaret (Allen) is desperately trying to keep the family afloat amidst a lot of bills that they can’t pay.  Brian is content with living his life the way everyone else he knows does: get a job around town that will get him the most money and benefits.  But he has a deep desire to get out of town and make a new life for himself.  But that’s easier said than done, especially when his ties to his hometown are so strong.

“White Irish Drinkers” is more of a slice-of-life drama than it is a story.  There are characters and things do happen, but writer/director John Gray is more interested in seeing what happens to the people that he has created and how they play the hand they are dealt.  The film works because the characters are compelling, and although we may hate them sometimes, they capture our sympathy.

The star of the film is Thurston.  Present in every scene, the film rests on his shoulders.  As Brian, he gives a terrific performance.  This is a kid we all know; you know that good looking nice guy you wish was your best friend?  That’s Brian.  He’s a bright kid with a future as an artist, if only he knew how to go down that road (this is what I meant when I said we sometimes hate the characters).  Wigdor is also effective as Danny, although there are some moments when he goes over the top.  But we understand him because we see what he went through.  When Paddy is drunk, it’s Danny who takes the heat.  It’s no wonder he’s become a stubborn, violent thug.  And yet, Wigdor manages to capture the heart that still survives in Danny.

The two veteran actors, Allen and Lang, are also good.  Allen will be forever known as Marion Ravenwood in the “Indiana Jones” movies, but she’s a talented actress.  She has very expressive eyes, and Gray has the instincts to capture them in the best way to convey what she’s feeling.  I’ve never been a fan of Stephen Lang.  He was hammy in “Avatar,” and while he is considerably better here, that’s not a ringing endorsement of his thespian skills.

The film does exactly what it sets out to do: it brings an array of interesting characters to life, and gets us invested in their fates.  With a movie like this, that’s all one can ask for.