Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good movie but grossly overrated

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Great to see Karen Allen again, and Peter Riegert and Stephen Lang! Such good actors. This is a smallish, low-budget, independent film, but the it is carried by a good cast, younger actors included. Nick Thurston manages to avoid hackneyed playing of familiar family dynamics, making his moments very specific to the character of Brian, who emerges as definitely the hero of the story. Both Geoffrey Wigdor and Leslie Murphy efficiently and movingly convey the writer-director's idea of trapped people trying to escape their environment in different ways with varying outcomes. Personally, my favorite parts involved 1) the location in Suffern New York: the old Lafayette revival theater (playing itself!), and 2) the scripting of the final exchange between two of the characters; it was just what I wanted to see happen.

The narrative arc of 'White Irish Drinkers' is so stale that it feels like a previously viewed film. Set amongst the mean streets of 1970s Brooklyn, a blue collar Irish-American is offered a scholarship at a prestigious art school - but inexplicable loyalty to a petty criminal older brother, a violent drunken father and a depressed mother prevents him making the obvious decision. The sensitive hero tries to overcome the film's dull dialog and direction while he wrestles with his conscience and churns out some mediocre scribbles in the basement.The lame tale limps from one hackneyed scene to the next, as unconvincing sub-plots involving a trite romance and a theater owner's rock concert scam provide some minor relief from the family squabbles, macho posturing and fistfights. Eventually the story arrives at a predictable tragedy, followed by a maudlin display of grief, before a last punch to the face thankfully brings down the final curtain.

I graduated High School in 1976. I grew up in Bay Ridge/Sunset Park. I am Irish. My father was a drunk. My hobby is painting. The opening shots of the Bridge and then a pan of OLPH hit a cord with anyone who knows the area.I wanted to like this movie a lot. It was brought down by a kind of predictable plot and predictable characters. It was brought up by some great (but uneven) acting and the way that Bay Ridge itself becomes a character in the film.In a bigger movie, Karen Allen might have gotten an Oscar nod for her performance as a good-hearted, long-suffering, worn down Mother. Leslie Murphy totally nails her part as a Brooklyn girl. Less successful are the male leads. Steven Lang overplays the stereotype tough working class drunkard dad. Geoffrey Wigdor channeled a little too much Fonzie/Adam Dice Clay into his characterization of a Brooklyn Punk. Nick Thurston is endearing as a somewhat wide-eyed caught in a moment I can't get out of Catholic School boy wanna' be artist whose life is made difficult by the people around him for no real explainable reason. But he doesn't even try for a Brooklyn accent, and that strikes me as a little out of place.But the bar/party scenes, the neighborhood, the stoops and corners are the authentic feel of Bay Ridge, although, in it's entirely it's a much nicer more hopeful place than shown (although the 70's were it's low point). There are a lot of small moments in this movie that ring true. When Brian opens Danny's notebook that is a real punch in the gut. Two young guys sitting on a stoop talking...dead on Brooklyn, there. The idea that people would run naked through Greenwood Cemetery (one of the most famous busiest cemeteries in the country, which is crossed with roads) didn't make a whole lot of sense to me.Overall, I would recommend this movie for the acting and the little things that it got right, although you have to overlook some senseless derivative plot elements to enjoy it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and everything that it brought to the table. I felt the story was extremely well written and the film was brilliantly casted. Newcomer Nick Thurston delivered a brilliant performance and really put himself on the map I feel. I also really enjoyed watching Karen Allen's performance for I thought she did an amazing job at bring the character to life and really showing her struggle. The film also had an amazing soundtrack that really added extreme emotion to all the scenes. I truly could feel the emotional tension in each scene. Aside from it being emotionally gripping, it also had a light hearted feel to it as well. The exchanges between Nick Thurston and his love interest really have a romantic touch to them and gives the film its romantic appeal.I really feel people will love this movie for it really is able to connect with people and reach them on a personal level. I high recommend seeing it. Well worth it.