GamerTab That was an excellent one.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Debbie Hyden Shocked and surprised that such a realistic movie set mostly in Belfast managed to pass me by. I must agree with the majority of (American) reviewers, who have deemed this film as a piece of gritty realism, if not one of true grit. I have lived in Belfast all my life and grew up during the period in which the film is set, and I can attest to the portrayal of working class Belfast as the most honest and vivid I have ever seen. The imagery is unmistakable, and I only wonder how on earth such footage could have been shot in 1980's Belfast! My only qualm is that I felt the plot line to be verging a little on the thin side, but that may be because I find it a little too incredible that the IRA at the time would have run the risk of sacrificing a US citizen to bolster PR. Aside from that, the depiction of the brutality and the Ethos of Conflict that engulfed Belfast at that time is unsurpassed.

TeflonDub Other reviewers have covered it well, just letting those who were trying to hunt it down on DVD know that it's available now on Netflix Instant. Well worth the time to watch. It portrays both sides in an equally dismal light. As such, one of the more compelling stories with the troubles as its backdrop. Some of the great Irish actors appear in it, such as Niall Tobín, Ray McAnally and Joe Lynch. The Richard Gere-type American lead is all rage and not a lot of nuance, but can be forgiven. The cynical and dehumanizing way the Anerican pawn is manipulated makes for compelling viewing. It also contains some very daring lines about the role of the church, and accurately foretells its fate in the absence of a common enemy. Some earlier reviewers worried about the level of violence. It would be impossible to set a movie in Belfast in 1973 without losing all credibility, a mistake this movie avoids. I didn't find any scene gratuitous, and the integrity of the movie is the better for it. I would agree with others who have described this as a lost gem.

kdzungri Years ago I was hanging out with friends at my house. Out of boredom, we turned on the TV to our one cable channel (I told you it was years ago!) and saw this movie. The story caught our interest. Craig Wasson plays a Vietnam veteran who goes to Northern Ireland and joins the IRA. Seems that his uncle Seamus (Sterling Hayden) told stories of about how he fought heroically for the IRA in the old days. Craig was disillusioned by his experience in Vietnam, and decides to redeem himself by fighting for a cause where the good guys (the IRA) are obviously in the right and the bad guys (the British) are obviously in the wrong. But when he gets to Northern Ireland, he finds more moral murkiness and disillusionment. The decades of warfare have made everybody either crazy, cynical, devoid of hope, or some combination of these. In over his head, he winds up being a pawn in a deadly game between the IRA and British Army. We were all amazed at what a *great* movie it was. Will it ever get released on DVD?

willyjg This is a real sleeper about an Irish-American vet who, on returning to the USA after Viet Nam, decides to go to Ireland and fight for the IRA. His desire to do so is based on the stories told to him by his grandfather (Stirling Hayden) about fighting the Brits. The magic of this film is its realism. I swear you can feel the damp chill of a overcast Dublin day as you watch this movie! It reminds me of THE BLADE RUNNER in its darkness, however THE BLADE RUNNER is a fictional setting and THE OUTSIDER isn't, unless you've never been to that area of the world. I've been to Scotland and I'm telling you I don't know how they bottled that climate and make you feel you're there. I have gotten off on the realism and I've almost forgotten, this film has one of the most heart wrenching endings I've ever seen. Craig Wasson who stars has done some other films that have great plots and endings. Remember THE BODY DOUBLE? Same surprises as that and this too, is believable. It's not the cheap pulp writing trick of sneaking someone in at the last minute that you've never heard of or has never been revealed by the plot, some presumed long dead uncle that saves the day at the last minute. Although, it would be very difficult to predict this ending the plot does give you all the information and fore-shadowing you need to embrace it in the end. Good Movie!