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Frank of Ireland stars Brian Gleeson (Logan Lucky, The Bisexual) as Frank, who comes from Ireland… if you hadn’t figured that out.
He’s a bit thick, so when we first see him having slept with ex-girlfriend Aine (Sarah Greene – no, not that one), for what he reckons will definitely be the last time (probably not), she says she’s been seeing a doctor, and even after spelling it out that she means seeing in the relationship sense, he still doesn’t get it and asks a second time if he should get tested. So, his brain capacity is on a par with Father Dougal in Father Ted.
There’s some sight gags, such as swearing while a police car rushes past, so his profanity can’t be heard, Frank comments on a dead woman in an open coffin with “Is she stuffed? She looks so realistic!”, and on asking someone out, he says without a hint of irony, “If the date goes well, I’ll ask her to the funeral”. Plus, he tries Mixed Martial Arts because his ex is now with a man who’s into that.
Meanwhile, he and brother Doofus (real-life sibling Domhnall Gleeson, both of whom starred together in the brilliant Jennifer Lawrence film, Mother!) are obsessed with Taxi Driver, yet whatever happens, everyone gets the better of them. There’s a regular smattering of crude humour, and when Frank is threatened, he gets a boner. Yes, you’re getting the idea.
I’ve seen two episodes so far – during the second of which, Frank’s mother Mary (Pom Boyd) went missing after being found unconscious on the front lawn in the morning. It felt like a near-nationwide search took place to find her; and when you see where she was found, it’ll stretch the bounds of credibility.
The end credits even show there’s a COVID Supervisor in the crew. His name is Kevin Brown, for completeness.
So far, this is passable at times and quite stupid at others, but don’t go thinking it’s in the same league as Father Ted. I’ll watch more, but since the entire series is on All4 after the first episode is broadcast, I’ll watch the rest then rather than as a preview, only because then I can see them with subtitles, which will help with the strong Irish accents.
Frank Of Ireland is on Channel 4 from Thursday April 15th at 10pm, it will run for six episodes, and after the first episode is broadcast, the entire series will be on All 4. In the US, it will also be on Amazon Prime the day after.
It is not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Check out the trailer below:
Episodes 1-2 Score: 4/10
Director: MJ Delaney
Producers: Rory Gilmartin, Charlie Laurie
Writers: Brian Gleeson, Domhnall Gleeson, Michael Moloney
Music: Jody Jenkins
Cast:
Frank Marron: Brian Gleeson
Doofus: Domhnall Gleeson
Mary Marron: Pom Boyd
Aine: Sarah Greene
Nicola: Liz Fitzgibbon
Peter-Brian: Tom Vaughan-Lawlor
Padraig: Pat Shortt
Stéphane: Paul Forman
Elaine Stenographer: Glynis Casson
Taxi drivers: Rory Mullen, Sandra Ni Bhroin
Funeral priest: Eamon Rohan
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.