Life isn’t easy for young Francie Brady (Eamonn Owens). Living in a small Irish town with his crazy mother and alcoholic father, he lashes out violently against real and perceived injustices he experiences. At least he has his friend Joe to keep him on the level but when Francie loses him, the downward spiral of his life quickens. Narrated by Francie as an adult (Stephen Rea, who also plays Francie’s father), The Butcher Boy is a sometimes humorous, often disturbing tale of an adolescent’s descent into madness.
The Butcher Boy
***published September 3, 2000