Amazon.com video review:
Based on a true story, this rousing and tough-minded film
details British overzealousness in prosecuting an IRA bombing in the
1970s. Grabbing up a pair of small-time thieves (Daniel Day-Lewis and
John Lynch) and their families, the government concocts a conspiracy
case against them and tosses them all in jail.
Until then, Day-Lewis has been a ne'er-do-well, an apolitical goof
looking for a quick score. But confronted with the toughness of his own
father (Pete Postlethwaite) in the face of British torture, he begins to
realize just what the stakes are. In the Name of the Father is at times
grueling and never less than
compelling, with a complex performance by Day-Lewis and a strong one by
Emma Thompson, as the lawyer who finally cracks through the British
obstructions to the truth.
--Marshall Fine
