Saw this at the Maine IFF this year, I had only seen one Irish film before this and that was called "The Guard" I left after a half hour..it was terrible.So I went into "The Pier" with little to no expectation and I didn't care much for the first 10min.....but I got hooked on the 11th min and I was so glad I stayed ..this was a beautiful story about a father son relationship, it was told in a bittersweet way that was heart breaking. The performances were really good and the two little boys were so cute. I loved the old lady June I think that was her name..The guy that played the father was great, he was complicated and really well developed. I would highly recommend this film..but be warned bring the tissues ,it's a tear jerker , but with that said I never felt I was been manipulated.the only bad thing was the production value could have been better..but it's a must see.