Donnybrook

Frank Grillo can be quite scary - or at least play scary and evil as good as anyone else can. Jamie Bell is really good in this too (and he needs to be with Grillos character overtaking and really being a menace and presence here), though for me I always remember Billy Elliott when I see him. Not his fault and as said, he is quite good in this, it is just the perception one sometimes has.

The movie is moody and dark. Some very bad things are happening to some good or at least rather innocent beings ... And all leads to the final fight! Quite literally also ... a Drama that does not hold back a punch and might challenge some viewers.

This film tells the story of two men who struggle to make ends meet. They turn to a big fight to earn a big prize.

The story is quite confusing to start with, as characters are not introduced. After figuring out who is who, it seems I can get into the story. But no. The pace is super slow, and the long slowly moving shots are just never ending. There is a shot where a young girl walk back and forth in a park for a minute. There is another shot of the boy walking up to a house to take a bicycle for a minute. These scenes are very out of place for a violent action film. In the end, I lost all interest in the film.

It was indeed quiet in the Winter Garden Theatre when the credits rolled at TIFF. This is not a movie you cheer for. It's gorgeous and brutal and humble. You exhale when it's done, and you're thankful for your different less desperate way of life.

The acting is superb, especially the brave Margaret Qualley. This deserves to be seen

Donnybrook it is a very dark drama, and well worth seeing. Ex-Marine Bell has a wife who is trying to get off drugs and 2 kids (a boy & a girl). His plan to improve their lot in life is to enter the Donnybrook, a bare-knuckles free-for-all fight contest where the last man standing will walk away with a $100k prize. The acting is superb, particularly Margaret Qualley (daughter of Andie MacDowell), who plays the sister of Frank Grillo's violent drug dealer. The characters in this film are very poor and struggle with violence, drugs, crime, all the things that are often common in the poorer communities across America. The bulk of this film is Bell's journey from his home in a trailer park to the site of the contest, and it's not an easy or straightforward path that he travels. He gets to the donnybrook, but it's the last 15 minutes of the film.

Dark, sad and disturbing. Good acting. Frank grillo is a scary ass dude.