Mickybo and Me

Based on Owen McCafferty's play, Mickeybo and Me tells the cross religious story of the eponymous Mickeybo (impressive newcomer John Joe McNeil) and his pal, Jonjo (Niall Wright, equally good), a pair of scallywags in 1970s Belfast. Set against the backdrop of the Troubles, the film charts this imaginative pair's mischief making, as they imagine themselves to be fugitives from justice like their idols, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Unfortunately for our two boys, their little plan to ape their heroes gets a little out of control when they decide to fleece a bank with a stolen gun, while their respective families, and especially their fathers (Ciaran Hinds and Adrian Dunbar) are mired in age old bigotries...

While Mickeybo and Me starts out promisingly enough, fluently articulating the bored antics of the two kids living out their fantasies on the rather drab streets of Belfast, things get a little patchy as their schemes grow ever more fantastical, which jars a little uncomfortably against the Troubles backdrop. Ultimately eschewing realism in favour of nostalgia may be Mickeybo and Me's most fatal misstep, but the two young leads' performances have a natural air about them - even if they are prone to using the sort of language which would shame a sailor. Or Colin Farrell.