Shane MaGowan infused Irish folk music with a punk attitude and took it into the charts. But 'Crock of Gold', a look into his life, is hard viewing at times. It's imaginitively made, and there's interest in the story, but it's basically reverential tone (epitomised by the appearances of Johhny Depp, who produced the film, and an obsequious Gerry Adams) can't hide the fact that this is the story of an intelligent man who has spent his life drinking himself towards death. His own story of his primitive background is hard to sqaure with the normal appearances of his parents and his sister. Something clearly happened to screw him up; and it's hard to celebrate the result. Some artists truly live their music; but if your music is the story of drunkards and losers, that's not a happy form of authenticity. I wish Shane well, but at heart this is a grim tale
