History and Court Drama

Rating: 8/10 (9 April 2015)

A man (Daniel Day-Lewis)'s coerced confession to an IRA bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. An English lawyer fights to free them.
This film is a great combination of history and court drama. Sometimes both mix very nicely (as with the Nuremberg trial) and sometimes they do not. Here, we get a nice glimpse at the IRA in Ireland without dwelling on it too much and also get the true story of a family that was wronged by the state for their alleged involvement in terror.
Ireland today is not the same place it was a generation ago, but it is not so far removed that this story is "distant history" and not important. Heck, Americans should probably know more about it than what they pick up from a U2 song.