The antisocial son of an alcoholic father and a bipolar mother grows up in 1960s Ireland.The antisocial son of an alcoholic father and a bipolar mother grows up in 1960s Ireland.The antisocial son of an alcoholic father and a bipolar mother grows up in 1960s Ireland.
- Awards
- 10 wins & 11 nominations
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaStephen Rea is credited as only playing Pa in the film, but he also plays the adult Francie, who narrates his story in voice-overs throughout the film, uncredited.
- SoundtracksMack the Knife
Written by Kurt Weill / Bertolt Brecht
European American Music Corp. / Warner / Chappell Music, Inc. / Universal Edition A.G.
Performed by Santo & Johnny
Courtesy of BMG Entertainment International UK & IRL Ltd.
Featured review
The Butcher Boy is a very weird film...This boy Francie has a bad influence; his father. His father is a violent man, alcoholic, but he loves his son a lot...This boy is very well played by Eamonn Owens, a young actor I didn't know before who surely worths a look at his performance. Stephen Rea is perfect in the role of the violent father, and Fiona Shaw is great in the role of a woman who hates Francie, because he beats up her son. But Francie is dangerous...The story is a mix of fear, hate, madness, happiness, that is mixed up in that little boy's brain. Sometimes, he's the good boy who protects his mother and sometimes he is the murderer...Francie is full of contradictions, and he tries to put happiness and death together. The narrator is very funny, but sometimes tells innapropriate things for the images we watch...but that's the psychotic part of it...incredibly well-shot, this film deserves lots of attention. I bought it for five stupid dollars...and Lost In Space was fifteen dollars...and the video sold it because of the lack of rentals...well, too bad for this video, they have one less good film on the shelf.... Neil Jordan brought us The Crying Game, Interview With The Vampire, In Dreams and some other good films...but I believe this one is his finest job...it's like watching Sleepers, Psycho and A Clockwork Orange at the same time. One thing that could be a problem; the accent of the characters when they speak...but I was happy to see that it was not set in the United States...Great film... I give it 85% and maybe it deserves better.
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,995,911
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $135,606
- Apr 5, 1998
- Gross worldwide
- $1,995,911
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