A brilliant underrated Irish thriller movie is on TV tonight

It marked the end of an unofficial trilogy of amazing movies.

Set in Belfast, the film was the pair's first non-biographical drama together and was released in 1997, a year before the Good Friday Agreement. The story sees the IRA debating whether to enter into peace talks with the British Government.

While the war-weary IRA commander Joe (Brian Cox, Succession) wants to put an end to the fighting and is willing to make some concessions to do so, others in the organisation believe he has gone soft.

Chief among the latter is Joe's lieutenant Harry (Gerard McSorley, Braveheart), a man who turned bitter after losing his young son in the conflict and who does not want his child's death to have been for nothing.

Entering into this powder keg situation is Danny Flynn (Day-Lewis), a 32-year-old former boxer and IRA member who spent 14 years in prison, taking the rap for something Harry orchestrated. In doing so, he left behind his teenage sweetheart Maggie (Emily Watson, Small Things Like These), who happens to be Joe's daughter.

Now getting out of jail, he attempts to live a peaceful life. As part of this, he sets up a boxing club intended for both Catholic and Protestant children with his former trainer, Ike (Ken Stott, The Missing), while aiming to get back into the sport himself.

A romance also sparks once again between him and Maggie, who has since become a mother and wife to an imprisoned IRA member.

As his non-sectarian sports club becomes a beacon of hope for the community and his relationship with Maggie blossoms, Danny finds himself the target of an increasingly bloodthirsty Harry, who is hell-bent on things remaining the way they are.

As readers will probably gather from that lengthy plot summation, The Boxer boasts a complex narrative, with the movie functioning as both a Troubles story, a sports drama and a tale of forbidden love.

To their credit, Sheridan and his co-writer Terry George (Some Mother's Son) nail the balance of plot threads, ultimately arguing that love and community-building efforts such as sports clubs can function as antidotes to seemingly endless cycles of violence.

The Boxer also features an incredible Day-Lewis performance. Already well-known for his method acting by the time of the film, the Oscar-winner prepared for three years to accurately play a fighter in the sport.

As part of this, he trained with Irish boxing promoter and former professional boxer Barry McGuigan - who is said to have inspired the character of Danny - for a year-and-a-half, with the real sportsman calling him "phenomenal".

"[Day-Lewis] trained like a professional fighter, harder than some of them train, I'm telling you," McGuigan recounted years after the movie's release.

"He sparred about 500 rounds, got his nose broke, sparred with really good quality fighters."

McGuigan even said Day-Lewis was so proficient at boxing after the training that he could have easily competed against the leading boxers in his weight class.

The Boxer was a hit upon its release, grossing around three times its budget at the box office.

That said, it was not as big a financial success as My Left Foot, and In the Name of the Father and, unlike those previous Day-Lewis and Sheridan collaborations, it did not receive any Oscar nominations.

While The Boxer may be less well-regarded than its predecessors, it nevertheless stands on its own as an entertaining, ambitious and worthy conclusion to a terrific trilogy of Irish movies.

The film is airing on TV tonight on TG4 at 9.30pm. It's also available to rent on Apple TV, Google Play, Prime Video and the Sky Store.

Here are the other movies on TV tonight:

Catch Me If You Can - TG4 - 8.40pm

Leonardo DiCaprio is a young and charismaric conman in this very fun and emotional crime caper from director Steven Spielberg.

Django Unchained - Film4 - 9pm

Quentin Tarantino's Oscar-winning Western epic.

Riddick - Sky Showcase - 9pm

Vin Diesel reprises his role as the titular space fugitive in this surprisingly good sequel.

Shanghai Knights - Comedy Central - 9pm

The period action comedy sequel starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson.

No Escape - Legend - 9pm

Another, more serious Owen Wilson action film in which he plays a man who becomes stuck in an Asian country with his family during a violent coup.

Rambo - Legend Xtra - 9pm

Sylvester Stallone's fourth, very violent outing as Vietnam War veteran turned mercenary John Rambo.

The Fabelmans - Channel 4 - 9.15pm

Another emotional and fun film from Steven Spielberg, this time based on his own experiences of growing up and falling in love with cinema.

Funny Cow - Sky Showcase - 10pm

In this acclaimed comedy-drama, a comedian (Maxine Peake) uses her troubled past as material for her stand-up routine and tries to rise up through the comedy circuit by playing Northern England's working men's clubs.

8 Million Ways to Die in the West - Legend Xtra - 10.55pm

A cult '80s neo-noir crime thriller starring Jeff Bridges, Rosanna Arquette and Andy Garcia.

The International - Legend - 11.05pm

Clive Owen and Naomi Watts star in this globetrotting action thriller as an Interpol agent and an American district attorney who jointly investigate a powerful bank's funding of terrorism.