The narrative arc of 'White Irish Drinkers' is so stale that it feels like a previously viewed film. Set amongst the mean streets of 1970s Brooklyn, a blue collar Irish-American is offered a scholarship at a prestigious art school - but inexplicable loyalty to a petty criminal older brother, a violent drunken father and a depressed mother prevents him making the obvious decision. The sensitive hero tries to overcome the film's dull dialog and direction while he wrestles with his conscience and churns out some mediocre scribbles in the basement.
The lame tale limps from one hackneyed scene to the next, as unconvincing sub-plots involving a trite romance and a theater owner's rock concert scam provide some minor relief from the family squabbles, macho posturing and fistfights. Eventually the story arrives at a predictable tragedy, followed by a maudlin display of grief, before a last punch to the face thankfully brings down the final curtain.
The lame tale limps from one hackneyed scene to the next, as unconvincing sub-plots involving a trite romance and a theater owner's rock concert scam provide some minor relief from the family squabbles, macho posturing and fistfights. Eventually the story arrives at a predictable tragedy, followed by a maudlin display of grief, before a last punch to the face thankfully brings down the final curtain.