Good Vibrations

"Good Vibrations may be the most aptly monikered film of the year. Overspilling with boozy bonhomie, it thrums along to its own inimitable groove, leaving you little choice but to join the party. Beginning, “Once upon a time in the city of Belfast…” it tells the barely credible – but true – story of Terri Hooley, a glass-eyed chancer who started the eponymous record shop, then a legendary punk label, in 1970s Belfast, a city torn apart by politicised violence."

"Dithers between being honest about its hero’s faults (alcoholism, selfishness, being a lousy husband and father) and celebrating his virtues (fearlessness, generosity of spirit). However, the pic’s pluses include a spot-on rendering of the sweaty, shabby period milieu and a breakout turn by thesp Richard Dormer."

"Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn’s likeable but flawed biopic of a ’70s Belfast punk hero stands and stumbles on its charm levels."

"An impassioned, funny and monumentally likable myth-making comedy."

"Dormer is immensely likable as Hooley, and Johnson brings a dour conviction to his father, an elderly disillusioned communist who finds spiritual victory in electoral defeat."

"Charming if somewhat predictable... popular culture proves able to match the firepower of divisive politics."

"Lightweight but likable musical bio resurrects a forgotten chapter from Irish punk rock history."

"A rousing tale of rock 'n' roll rebellion that shows how one man's black-vinyl passions ended up socking it to The Man."