Another Irish classic is airing on TV this evening.
After recommending The Banshees of Inisherin yesterday, our TV movie pick for tonight is 1997’s The Butcher Boy.
This is the excellent adaptation by director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Michael Collins) of the novel by Patrick McCabe (Breakfast on Pluto).
The film tells the story of Francie Brady (Eamonn Owens), a 12-year-old boy in a small town in County Monaghan in the early ’60s who retreats into a violent fantasy world to escape the reality of his dysfunctional family.
As the boy’s circumstances worsen, however, his sanity deteriorates and he begins acting out, with increasing brutality.
The Butcher Boy is not only one of the best Irish movies ever made, but one of the most ambitious.
It’s a film that explores the darker side of Irish life from the point of view of an imaginative young boy.
Through Jordan’s inventive and surrealist direction, the audience literally sees how this darkness winds up seeping into the child’s psyche with disastrous results.
This approach results in a movie that manages to be horrifying yet also oddly heartfelt and funny.
The supporting cast is also packed with incredible actors, including Brendan Gleeson, Fiona Shaw, Ian Hart, Milo O’Shea and Stephen Rea.
Sinéad O’Connor is also brilliant in an unforgettable cameo role.
The Butcher Boy is airing on TV tonight on RTÉ2 at 9.40pm. It’s also available to rent on Apple TV, Google Play and the Sky Store.
Here are the other movies airing on TV tonight:
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Film4 – 9pm
This powerful Oscar-winning comedy-drama from writer-director Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin) tells the story of a mother (Frances McDormand) whose daughter (Kathryn Newton) is murdered.
As she seeks justice for the killing, she goes to war with the local police (represented by Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson).
Jurassic Park – ITV4 – 9pm
Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece blockbuster asks: “What if dinosaurs were real again?”
Virtuosity – Legend – 9pm
Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe face off in this 1995 action sci-fi about virtual reality.
Flightplan – Virgin Media One – 9pm
A recently widowed mother (Jodie Foster) on a long-haul flight with her daughter wakes up from a nap to find her child has disappeared.
Even stranger, the crew of the flight then tells the widow that her daughter was never on the plane.
American Pie 2 – E4 – 9pm
The second entry in the raunchy comedy franchise.
Rawhide – TG4 – 9.05pm
A ’50s Western starring Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward.
Don’t Worry Darling – RTÉ One – 9.35pm
In this flawed but watchable thriller, Florence Pugh plays a woman who starts to suspect her ideal life with her husband (Harry Styles) is a lie.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm – Sky Max – 10pm
The long-awaited, and quite funny, sequel to the Sacha Baron Cohen-led comedy Borat.
Hitman – MTV – 10pm
The 2007 adaptation of the hit video game starring Timothy Olyphant.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco – BBC Two – 11pm
In this acclaimed US indie drama, a young man (Jimmie Falls) dreams of reclaiming the Victorian home his grandfather built in the heart of San Francisco.
Joined on his quest by his best friend (Jonathan Majors), the pair searches for belonging in a rapidly changing city that seems to have left them behind.
Deathwatch – Legend – 11.05pm
Jamie Bell stars in this decent horror war film about a group of WWI soldiers who take shelter in an abandoned enemy trench that proves to be no refuge.
Ghost Rider – Channel 4 – 11.05pm
The 2007 Marvel flick starring Nicolas Cage.
Naked – Film4 – 11.20pm
The hard-hitting ’90s British drama from writer-director Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies) about an unemployed British man (David Thewlis) who vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey.
Superbad – BBC One – 11.25pm
The hilarious, Seth Rogen-penned coming-of-age comedy.
Suspect – RTÉ One – 11.45pm
In this fun ’80s legal thriller, a public defence lawyer (Cher,) is assigned to defend a homeless, deaf Vietnam War veteran (Liam Neeson) suspected of murder.
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