Cole (Michael Angarano) has been groomed for the priesthood since childhood, though he also enjoys throwing a baseball for his private-school team. His plans are changed abruptly when his sister Kathleen (Emily VanCamp) becomes pregnant; she is to be sent away to a home for unwed mothers, and that costs money.

Cole's angry older brother Terry (Tom Guiry) has been written off by the family as a lost cause. He tries to lure Cole into a life of crime, embarrasses him publicly, and sasses their father and mother. In turn, the parents are a mixed lot. Desmond (Brendan Gleeson) is a middle-aged wreck, unemployed and constantly drinking and smoking, while straight-laced Margaret (Melissa Leo) feels she is the only thing holding the family together, not realizing that her constant moralizing is as off-putting to the children as Desmond's failed dreams.

The individual family members move in orbit around each other, both attracted and repelled. Only Cole and Kathleen seem to truly get along; the others bump and jar and jostle with increasing hostility. It's never that simple with family, of course. You may say things to them you would never say to another living soul, but chances are you also feel far deeper about them than anyone else, for good or for bad.

Thus we see Cole becoming more and more disenchanted with his father's behavior, but never saying anything; Kathleen becoming more and more distant from her mother yet holding her tongue; Terry expressing his fury in the most obvious ways, even while keeping on tap a reservoir of sadness.

The performances by Angarano and Gleeson are extraordinary, and those of Guiry, Ms. VanCamp, and Ms. Leo just a touch behind. It's especially interesting to compare Guiry's work with what he's done recently in the U.S. television show The Black Donnellys, in which he plays a very similar character. In that show, he's very good, but one-note; here, he is more nuanced and displays a wider range of emotions.

One more thing to highlight: though the film's drama is its strongest asset, a generous amount of humor is mined from situations that develop very naturally.

I always have a fear of overselling when I really like something -- though I must note that the rest of the audience seemed to enjoy it as well -- so I'll stop there.

Black Irish evidently has no distribution deal in place, which is a crying shame.

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The film plays again at AFI Dallas tonight, Friday, March 30.

BLACK IRISH
Official Web Site