<P> The script was written by Jim Sheridan, who did not intend to write simply for children, although the film mainly follows two young children on the run with their beautiful, magical white horse . Other themes targeted to adults, are also present: grief, the clash of cultures with differing values, and the use of the police by the rich and powerful to enforce property rights in their favour . Sheridan wrote the script five years before he directed My Left Foot . </P> <P> Gabriel Byrne said it was one of the best scripts he ever read, and described it at the time as Jim Sheridan's best work to date . Byrne was committed to the work, he said; Apart from it being a story about Travellers, and the relationship between a father and his two sons, it really was in a way about Ireland . Ellen Barkin said that from the first reading she thought it an extraordinary piece of film writing . </P> <P> The movie's most memorable scenes, such as the horse in the cinema and the beans exploding, were shot in the small town of Portarlington in County Laois . </P> <P> The film has received a mostly positive critical reception . On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a score of 70% and holds an audience share of 73 . </P>

Where was into the west filmed in ireland