The Mighty Celt (2005)

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The story of the boy and his mother and O was fine, very sweet, even. Even the fact that Joe turned out bad and let the boy down was okay -- a kind of life lesson for him.But there was no need to do such cruel things to the dogs. It was heart-breaking. I don't know how anyone can be so heartless, yet I know such cruelty does go on in real life. The people who hurt animals have no hearts and I hope they burn in hell.I agree with the review from Leo 811. The film should not have depicted such violence. It was unnecessary. A good story could still have been told with letting the boy get his beloved Celt back safely in the end. Tacking on the "happy" ending with a new puppy is not good enough.Films need to be more uplifting. We should be inspiring young people to be kind to all animals, domestic and wild.

Low budget indeed, but worked with intelligence, feeling and genuine talent. A sincere and clean view towards the relationship between dogs and humans. From the professional point of view, it's also entirely commendable. Well chosen and managed actors - the boy was surprisingly natural and expressive, and the trainer composed a credible and complex portrait. The director had the skill to build up very realistic tensions between the two leading characters, dramatically working up his way to the tragic peak of the dog's slaying - a scene that literally tears one's heart, and not by using cheap tricks!Not only the movie touches the deep soul of all the people who love, understand and respect animals, but is also depicts a honorable piece of good cinematic work. Congratulations - and thanks! :)

I have been a fan of native Irish movies for some time now and recently stumbled upon this title while scanning the Sundance channel. For me, an American Celtophile, the title alone was worth a look. I was surprised and pleased with the movie overall, and was quite moved by this simple story of a boy's love and loss of a tawny winning greyhound who's name gives the film its title. The setting for this story is a still turbulent, post-war Northern Ireland where the effects of the country's troubles can still be seen. What was most interesting to me was the acting, which was quite good, especially McKenna's and Anderson's. Mostly, I was impressed that Anderson could actually pull off a passable accent. Admittedly, I am not from Ireland but I've heard enough Irish accents over the years to pick out a bad one. In fact, I first caught this film about 15 minutes into it and was stunned to see this excellent performance from an actress who looked an awful lot like Gillian Anderson. I'll have to keep an eye out for this girl, I said to myself. I wonder who she is? The only downside of this movie for me was that it seemed a bit short, like something was missing from the character or plot development. Other than that I thoroughly enjoyed this film and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves kids, dogs, coming of age tales, and an Irish sense of the dramatic.

This film is reminiscent of Ken Loach's "Kes" (1969) but without the 'grim up North' tone.The plot centres around Donal (Tyrone McKenna), a teenager who loves animals and enjoys helping Good Joe (Ken Stott) run his kennel full of greyhounds. He persuades Joe to buy a dog, who Donal is convinced is a winner and later names The Mighty Celt.Gillian Anderson is convincing as Donal's mother who is unsettled when her old flame, ex-IRA man O (Robert Carlyle) shows up and becomes friends with her son.The film is both tear-jerking and uplifting and the performances from the cast make for an excellent production.