Review: The Hardy Bucks Movie

Every once and a while a homegrown Irish production comes along that you just know is going to play wonderfully to the masses. Despite coming from somewhat cult beginnings The Hardy Bucks Movie has broad appeal in spades and moments of genuine hilarity.

Essentially a road trip flick based around the escapades of everyone's favourite Mayo chancers, it sees the lads looking to make it to Poland on time to catch Ireland getting wholloped by the Italians in Euro 2012. Naturally enough it’s not all plain sailing, as the lads get caught up in selling sex toys, molested by a hooker in Amsterdam and chased down by some dangerous Dutch gangsters.

As is generally the case with most comedies that bring the funny, the plot here is inconsequential; The Hardy Bucks first bash at feature format is an extension of the shorts they produced to staggering popularity online. While the TV series was certainly funny, there was a certain air of censorship that comes with having a show with the national broadcaster. Thankfully, the movie has edges far sharper than its TV incarnation.

If there’s one thing that separates this film from other comedies that never quite knocked it out of the park, it’s that The Hardy Bucks know exactly what they are and they know their audience. Why that broad appeal extends outside of their core audience here is that the cast are all very funny, and very talented.

While everyone has their time to shine, and do so with defined comedic chops, it’s Chris Tordoff as The Viper who delivers most of the laugh out loud moments. His endlessly re-quotable character is a highlight in a surprisingly low budget production that hides its financial restrictions with panache – but you’ll probably be too busy laughing to notice anyway.

A very funny homegrown production that should have audiences in hysterics around the country.