The Irish Connection

A mobster's bearer bonds are stolen in Ireland, leading to all sorts of trouble.

When the high-value bearer bonds are snatched by a man known as The Priest (Santos), their owner Alice (Longhurst), who is a crime boss (and also pregnant), wants them back and intends to do so with the help of her brother Rory (Robinson) and her partner Casper (Healy). The thief's father Danny (O'Doherty) and half-brother Jay (Bence) find themselves in deep trouble when the gangsters go after them and a special agent named Aureille tries to protect them and retrieve the bonds.

This crime comedy is an enjoyable experience that will most likely appeal to fans of the genre. The screenplay contains good humour that involves clever dialogue and multiple characters, whose lives are effectively explored. Events that take place include people being threatened and assaulted, shootings, a car chase, awkward situations and quite a bit of clown stuff and movie references. The action takes place in Irish cities Derry and Cork, before moving on to Malta.

The characters are well-written and the acting is entertaining. Coduri does a fine job as a tough and determined agent who is focused on bringing down the bad guys. Robinson and Healy are amusing in their gangster roles, however the biggest comedy credit should probably go to O'Doherty and Bence for their performances as a father and his son who unwillingly get involved with criminals and find their lives in danger. Bence is great as a clumsy and immature guy and O'Doherty is equally good as his more sensible and wise dad. The two of them appear to work well together and generate a lot of fun.

As the director, Patrick creates some wonderful establishing and aerial shots that capture the beauty of the locations. Composer Paul Casey develops a score that goes well with the atmosphere and praise also goes to the creative montage sequence that introduces each character with title cards.

Basically, the plot of this feature is a lot of people going after the same thing: bearer bonds. Overall, it is a funny film, with an intriguing story and delivers a few laughs. Fans of movies such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch should give this one a go.