Into the West

Mike Newell directs Jim Sheridan's screenplay (based on a story by Tim Palmer) in this enchanting and magical modern-day fairy tale. Gabriel Byrne plays Papa Reilly, a widower who lives with his two young sons, Ossie (Ciaran Fitzgerald) and Tito (Ruaidhri Conroy), in the slums of Dublin. There seems ...more

Into the West starts with such high doses of mystical blarney -- earnest Irish folk music, a magical white horse -- that it threatens to take an early and permanent detour into preciousness. But that's not a very likely outcome for a script by unblinking realist Jim Sheridan, even at his most fanciful. In fact, in the capable hands of director Mike Newell, Sheridan's story of two boys on a journey of discovery is surprisingly grounded, earning greater suspension of disbelief with every stride ...more