But if the film flirts with being sentimental, it never completely gives in: The inherent strength of the material as well as the integrity of the filmmakers gives this coming-of-age story restraint as well as warmth.
63
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
An important and interesting story, but the reform school itself never seems terribly harsh.
58
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
Though exploring, among other things, fallibility, homosexuality, injustice and loss, the picture seems afraid to really make any kind of strong statement, whether political or psychological.
It's really a crock: a coming-of-age boys' prison film that has only a fanciful link with Behan's life. The film is a bastard grandchild of Tony Richardson's 1962 "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner."
Somewhere along the way, Borstal Boy became fatally compromised.
30
Chicago ReaderTed Shen
Chicago ReaderTed Shen
The direction is so muted and sentimental and the pacing so soporific that only Ciarian Tanham's saturated color cinematography of the sylvan countryside breaks the monotony.
30
VarietyDerek Elley
VarietyDerek Elley
Mixes a rites-of-passage story with political and sexual elements to solid but finally uninvolving results.