Bro lives the Irish-American fantasy: goes to the motherland, gets immediately accepted as one of them (cause he’s actually from there, see!) and immediately ingratiates into the old traditions: drinking, fighting and beating your fiery redheaded wife (but she wants this, see!)
And it’s all shot by John Ford and Winton S. Hosch on Technicolor (which Hosch helped create) so it’s gorgeous of course.
While the cold open is a little goofy, this movie immediately corrects the issue with an incredible opening credits sequence which cues us into an ultra-80s style that just grabs one’s attention. I didn’t know Friedkin was capable of this as he’s always been a more grime and grit kind of guy, but this is one of those beautiful movies where every other shot looks like “the shot” of the entire movie. It’s incredible, almost echoing Michael Mann’s work around…
Terrible portrayal of Scotland
0 glassing incidents
0 stabbings
0 Hooligans
No one says “Alba gu bràth”
No one calls anyone a c*nt
No drunken brawls
Only one mention of haggis (and they even define it as though no one has seen Scooby Doo and the Loch Ness Monster)
No Irn Bru
Only one redhead
Seething hatred of Margaret Thatcher goes unspoken
No Shrek
0 mentions of Sean Connery
Highland Games are not mentioned
No Celtic magic
Bagpipes are portrayed…
