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Parents' Guide to

Broken Law

By Alistair Lawrence, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Generic Irish crime drama has swearing, violence, drugs.

Movie NR 2021 85 minutes
Broken Law Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This crowd-funded effort by writer-director Paddy Slattery packs a literal and figurative punch. Broken Law's story of two brothers, one wayward and one strait-laced, is nothing new. But strong performances from Tristan Heanue as compromised cop Dave and Graham Earley as his self-destructive outlaw sibling Joe are two of several watchable turns in this modest, Dublin-set crime thriller.

Where the movie falters is its rushed story, which is packed with convenient coincidences. Psychotic, drug-addled gangster Wallace (John Connors) is a compelling presence. But both he and Dave's love interest, Amia (Gemma-Leah Devereux), have relatively little to do as the plot pounds past any real character development on its way toward a neat but hurried ending. Given their constraints, everyone involved deserves credit for creating some tense, unnerving scenes, and the sense that with a more carefully crafted script and a bigger budget, this cast and crew could've created something truly memorable.

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