Film name: DannyBoy

Director: Ferdia McAnna (aka Rocky De Valera)

Release date: 01st May 2020 (on facebook)

Review by: Caroline, Derek and Ruslan O’Beirne

A friend shared a link about a film that was being premiered on Facebook on Friday 01st May 2020 called Dannyboy and while watching the trailer I picked up on the fact that the main character stutters. We settled down to watch it with the popcorn.

First thing to say that although it is a very sweet film it is definitely one for older teens only as there is a certain amount of content that would not be suitable for younger eyes. It’s a story about growing up in Dublin in the early 1980’s when life was very different – no mobile phones or social media. Also, Danny applies for and gets a job at 19 straight out of school which Ruslan found quite difficult to believe.

Stuttering is not the main theme of the film, it’s treated as just a part of the story which is good. That said Danny experiences a fairly typical reaction to his stuttering at one point (Ruslan confirmed that this has happened to him as well) but the fact that he has a stutter is not portrayed as getting in the way of his life. He does seek out a speech therapist but I doubt very much if the one he attends was typical of speech therapists even back in the 1980’s. He was quite funny though.

We all enjoyed the film very much for different reasons. I think Ruslan enjoyed the portrayal of a teen’s life and myself and Derek had the added bonus of a fantastic soundtrack, all of which we remembered from the first time around! There are plenty of familiar faces as well. Overall we all really enjoyed the film.

Bravo to all involved.