An Irish fable about how much joy and satisfaction an Irishman takes in a hard day's work. How much? So much that a man (Brendan Gleeson, looking beardy) will spin lies in every direction just to punch a clock: to the oil company he needs to choose his town for a factory site, to the bank he needs to loan him the money to bribe the factory, and most thoroughly and appallingly, to the American doctor (Taylor Kitsch, looking haggard) he needs to make the town his home. And it's he ease, energy, and enthusiasm of his prevarications that provide much of the entertainment here. Director and co-writer Don McKellar (Last Night) keeps the tone amiable, and the visuals just dowdy enough to avoid the ersatz charm of Irish schmaltz. But even a well-intentioned bamboozle needs a bigger blowup than he delivers here. The end result is like tea with too much sugar and cream: pleasant enough, but so mild that you start to miss the bitter and the bite. (2013) — Matthew Lickona
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