"The Mighty Celt"

"The Mighty Celt" was supposed to be a story about a boy and his dog. And it was. Sort of. Apparently, growing up in Northern Ireland is tough, on the boys AND the dogs.

Young Donal (played by a brilliant Tyrone McKenna) spends his days working for Good Joe, helping him raise greyhounds for racing. It's clear from the start that Good Joe is not so good. But when Donal convinces him to purchase "the Mighty Celt," a name based on a comic book hero, it gives Donal a chance to prove that his way of raising animals works just as well. And if TMC wins three races in a row, the dog becomes Donal's. Of course Good Joe isn't going to let that happen. What will Donal's mother, Kate (Gillian Anderson), think of all this? And how does O (Robert Carlysle), fresh out of hiding, fit into all this?

The backdrop to the whole movie is the troubles in Northern Ireland and the troubled times they live in affects each character differently. The movie was decent enough, and short enough just in case it wasn't decent enough. The accents were believable and, though the story wasn't quite as "feel good" as I'd hoped, it was still worth the rental.