A boy-dog bonding story set against the backdrop of a post-conflict Northern Ireland, this is notable for the casting of Gillian Anderson as a working-class single mum. While Irish natives may not be fooled, her performance is confident enough to convey one of the films better-written roles, a woman marked by the death of her brother and hesitantly shopping for a new father for her son.
But the knowledge of Andersons nationality accentuates the artificiality of this Belfast. Robert Carlyles ex-IRA man merely pays lip service to his supposed reformation, while young newcomer Tyrone McKenna is ill-equipped to fill the considerable gaps in the script with displays of convincing emotion.