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Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Ken Loach alarmed students of British agitprop when he idly threatened that Jimmy's Hall would be his last feature after 50 years of film-making. More intimate, but of a piece historically, geographically and ideologically with The Wind That Shakes the Barley (also written by long-time collaborator Paul Laverty), Jimmy's Hall is a true story that takes place in rural County Leitrim ten years after the Irish War of Independence. Returning communist agitator Jimmy Gralton (charismatically played by Barry Ward), reopens Effrinagh's Pearse-Connolly Hall - which he helped build - as an educational social club for jazz dancing and the exchange of ideas, to the horror of the Church (imperiously embodied by Jim Norton's priest). A little-known Irish cast (save for Sherlock's Andrew Scott in a small role) lends easy authenticity to the drama which, true to Loach form, is didactic and sentimental but guided by a righteous moral compass. As much a drama about community as politics, it humanises the clash of old and new ideas, and marks Ward out as a star.

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Credits

Cast

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James GraltonBarry Ward
OonaghSimone Kirby
Father SheridanJim Norton
MossieFrancis Magee
MarieAisling Franciosi
Father SeamusAndrew Scott
O'KeefeBrian F O'Byrne

Crew

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DirectorKen Loach

Details

Theatrical distributor
Entertainment One
Released on
2014-05-30
Languages
English | Irish
Guidance
Violence, swearing.
Available on
DVD and Blu-ray
Formats
Colour
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