It is the 1960s, and the Beetles' music is sweeping the world. There is an annual competition in Dublin, the type of music has a name but is unfamiliar to most of the world. The local favorite band is getting ready for it, with the boys of County Clare, and one very cute and very talented girl.At the same time a band based in Liverpool is getting ready for the same competition, and its leader is the brother of the leader of the Irish band. So much of the movie involves heated competition between the brothers, including some antics to try to delay each one enough to miss the registration deadline of 8PM.Things get more complicated when the young girl in the Irish band begins to fall for a nice young boy in the Liverpool band. Her mother is unusually upset by this, and warns her daughter not to run off to Liverpool. "Let him come to you."SPOILERS. The young daughter happens to also be the daughter of the Liverpool brother, a womanizer who had had a short fling with her mother years earlier. At first it seemed that the girl would go back to Liverpool with the band, but she changed her mind and statued home. But eventually the boy from Liverpool showed up for her, as her mother had suggested. Also, a dark horse won the competition, a band put together by the 3rd of the violin playing brothers, now a missionary priest who had brought along a group of black musicians he had taught to play the Irish music.

The All Ireland music competitions, called "Fleadh Cheoil" (Flah Keeole)(Music Festival) are still being held every August in the Republic of Ireland. Even though the fleadh in the movie took place in 1966, the depictions of the fleadh are realistic with the streets full of people, the presence of people who have nothing directly to do with the competitions coming to the festivities, competing musicians from overseas,and the musicians playing in sessions.There is a lot of humor in this movie, but also some family drama. The focus is the Ceili Band competitions with the bands of two brothers, one from rural Clare in Ireland and the other from Liverpool, who have had had a feud for over twenty years.I enjoyed both the comedy and the realism of this movie.

Not much of a plot to this, most of my points are for the lovely Andrea Corr and the acting of the three brothers, Colm Meaney, Bernard Hill and Noel Bridgeman.All plot lines are totally predictable if not contrived. The abandoning father, the bitter mother, the angry daughter. However, it is saved, and this is refreshing, by there being no mawkishness or melodrama.Poor County Clare gets short shrift and never appears, Isle of Man and Northern Ireland stand in for it.I don't know what the reasons for not filming it in today were. There are frequent references to the Beatles to remind us it is taking place in the sixties. But I know for a fact that a Clare man married five times in England and returning to County Clare in the sixties would have been met by the priest and run out of town on a rail as giving bad example to the young ones.Also the single mother lying about her marital status (a widow), that was never clear, did she invent a man who died and a name for herself and her daughter? I don't like plot holes likes this. With such a simple storyline these should have been tightened up.The ceili band and actors were badly out of synch in some of the scenes, feet tapping hopelessly out of rhythm. But that said all in all it was a pleasant little froth of a thing with lovely music.7 out of 10.

The Boys from County Clare is a delightful comedy with many dark, dramatic overtones. Two brothers, estranged for years, are competing in a ceili (Irish dance music) band competition. Each will stop at nothing to prevent the other from winning, or even entering, the competition. We do not know the cause of the rift but it soon becomes clear that other characters are involved in it. It kept me guessing: sometimes right and sometimes wrong. As time passes, we learn more about the dark secrets of these characters and how they work things out.If you like Irish music, then you have one more thing to love about this film; it is full of that music. The cast was well chosen both for appearance and acting abilities. Whether or not they really are, they do appear to be playing the music. The characters appear to be very real and always interesting. There is considerable foul language and drunkenness in the film but it is essential to the understanding of the characters and their ways. There are many beautiful lessons and much pathos but even more humour in the film. Watch for a delightful surprise near the end.