‘Frank of Ireland’ Series Review: A Knockabout Tale of Half-Witted Hustlers

Brian and Domhnall Gleeson wrote Frank of Ireland alongside Michael Moloney, so it’s definitely written towards the brothers’ sensibilities. Giggling at awful characters who makes everybody around them miserable is of the enjoyment of the television. They may be genuine people who are simply awful typically, like Frasier Crane, or awful individuals with a bit of comeuppance or are made aware of their awfulness, like David Brent. However what about those characters who are awful but don’t consider themselves as awful and the world owes them something? Will they be funny? That’s the one would ask while watching the series.

Frank Marron (Brian Gleeson), a 32-year-old semi-musician that lives in his childhood home along with his mother Mary (Pom Boyd), wakes up and sees the note he wrote on his hand “Don’t sleep with Àine.” He looks around and there’s Àine (Sarah Greene); her granny who recently died and apparently, she looked to Frank for some comfort, even though they “just broke up” as stated by Frank — six years earlier. She tells him that she’s now dating a doctor who’s into MMA, and Frank keeps thinking that the guy is into MDMA, something completely different.

There are hits amid the numerous misses. The chemistry between the brothers warms the episodes and provides it a charm it might otherwise struggle to summon. Their timing – significantly Brian’s, who has most to do – is immaculate; many of the viewer’s dislike of and frustration with the character is also quenched by the comic mastery on show. There is some good humor: a recurrent one concerning the album of tribute songs to films/the counties of Ireland that Brian endlessly plans and Doofus making an attempt into Mary’s mind once she escapes from Brian’s tender ministrations.

The more the show commits, the more you will find jokes to chuckle at, peaking with a fourth episode in which Frank crashes a gender-swapped production of Twelve Angry Men, that he thinks could be a Few smart Men. That episode lacks the hints of feeling that pop at the end of the third episode, and it cannot compete with the skilled prankster of Brendan Gleeson's cameo in the sixth. However, it's maybe the episode that best indicates that the creators know to properly craft the kind of farce that they are otherwise flailing at. You look into those 3 episodes and you would assume that further adventures in this world may well be worth it.

Final Score – [6/10]
Reviewed by – Ritika Kispotta
Follow her @KispottaRitika on Twitter (https://twitter.com/KispottaRitika)