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Aidan Quinn, Iain Glen, Marc Warren, Dudley Sutton, Alan Devlin ... see more see more... , Stuart Graham , John Travers , Chris Newman , Simone Bendix , Claus Bue , Andrew Simpson

A teacher takes on the corrupt leadership of an Irish reform school in this drama based on a true story. William Franklin (Aidan Quinn) is a teacher who was born in Ireland and moved to the United Sta... read more read more...tes only to repatriate in 1939 after his leftist political views cause him to lose his job. Franklin becomes the first non-cleric instructor at St. Jude's, a school for wayward boys run by Brother John Iain Glen, who is a firm believer in strong discipline. But Franklin comes to believe the students are being treated with excessive force, with many of the children severely punished for trivial violations of the rules, and some treated as delinquents for the crime of not having parents. As Franklin campaigns for more humane treatment of his charges, he makes a powerful enemy in Brother John, who responds to Franklin's reform efforts with greater vehemence against the students, in particular Mercier (John Travers), an inquisitive child who has become a favorite of Franklin. Franklin's distrust of Brother John's regime reaches a high point when a new student informs him that he was sexually assaulted by one of the clerics. Song for a Raggy Boy was adapted from the memoir by Patrick Galvin, who also helped adapt his story for the screen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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39% want to see it

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6 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 33 min.

Directed by: Aisling Walsh

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DVD Release Date: May 8, 2007

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Flixster Reviews (168)

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Critic Reviews

Rich Cline
March 22, 2004
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

The filmmakers undermine their point with a simplistic script that refuses to allow shades of grey in what should be a complex, disturbing story. Full Review

Greg Dean Schmitz
May 2, 2003
Greg Dean Schmitz, Greg's Previews at Yahoo! Movies

If this had been fictional, I probably would have been harsher on the story, but since it's a true story, what would have been a weakness can be perceived as a strength

David Rooney
October 18, 2008
David Rooney, Variety

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March 24, 2004
Hollywood Reporter

No review available.

April 1, 2006
Empire Magazine

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Matthew Turner
April 17, 2004
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon

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April 6, 2004
BBC

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Eric D. Snider
May 3, 2003
Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com

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Derek Adams
February 9, 2006
Derek Adams, Time Out

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March 21, 2004
Film4

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