The Young Offenders

First-time writer/director Peter Foott makes as big an impact as his debuting leads in this hilarious Irish road movie about a couple of teenage bicycle thieves pedalling 100 miles across County Cork in the hope of making a quick killing with some beached cocaine. Inspired by a record narcotics seizure in 2007, the gleefully episodic caper follows dopey wasters Jock (Chris Walley) and Conor (Alex Murphy), as they seek to escape the former's abusive alcoholic father and the latter's nagging fishmonger mother. However, a dogged Garda sergeant (Dominic MacHale), some elusive chickens, a barbed wire fence and a club-footed, nail gun-wielding drug dealer stand between the boys and their dreams of living in a mansion with an English butler. Cinematographer Paddy Jordan lovingly captures the glorious scenery en route to Three Castle Head. But it's the bromantic banter between the hapless, but touchingly steadfast heroes and the moments of bleakly bruising slapstick that make this impeccably paced saga so genial and enjoyable.