Robert Carlyle directs and stars in a Glaswegian's answer to a Tarantino film!
Barney Thomson is an awkward, single and sheltered 50-something barber living in Glasgow in Scotland with an overbearing mother. His life has been uneventful and he's happy with that, but when he's involved in an accident that kills his boss and simultaneously the police are looking for a serial killer... his life is about to go off the rails.
The Legend of Barney Thomson is a love or hate situation for the wider audience, but that is common for most black comedies. I personally found it entertaining enough, but I cannot say I laughed a great deal; it has incredibly dry humour, and a little bit repetitive over the course of the movie. When I reflect on it I imagine it like a long macabre Monty Python sketch.
Robert Carlyle is very good in the lead role as Barney Thomson, who we are introduced as a man to be avoided in this barber shop: "You look like a haunted tree" explains his boss, and he really does! But as the film goes on we see him as a very timid shut-in, and Carlyle portrayed it perfectly, especially as the odds are stacked so heavily against him. Alongside him is Emma Thompson as his mother (though one questions the age gap between the actors themselves) a woman who wants nothing to do with him apart from use him any way she can to go on parties with her friends, and Ray Winstone as a bitter, grudge-ridden police officer on the verge of breakdown. The three of them are actually very good in their roles, and I say that as someone who generally doesn't care for Winstone in most of his roles.
But while the actors look like they are having a good time, and it is great to see familiar "everyday" Glasgow streets specifically around the Bridgeton area, for a black comedy it didn't feel especially funny or even quotable. It has swearing, a lot of swearing, and a lot of Glaswegian (poor Americans may need subtitles!) to promote its humour. There were a couple of laughs, but for me it got a little repetitive as time went on, and it certainly jumps the shark for good measure at its climax. Where did that come from?
At best it is a curiosity as Carlyle's debut in the director's chair, but even as I write this review I consider it entertaining but intensely cliched and repetitive.
"Sick, twisted, demented, bizarre" are some of the words used to describe Filth in its sledgehammer trailer, and it certainly indulges itself in all manner of things, but I would say I was surprised at its equally compelling lead character.
Based off the novel by Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting) Filth is set in Scotland during the Christmas season and follows a drug abusing, sex mad police officer with a superiority complex who goes on a rampage against his fellow officers so he can land a promotion. The promotion, he believes, will win back the hearts and minds of his wife and daughter.
Filth is a great film, and certainly stands tall beside Trainspotting (though it is a very different story) and while I've not read the book I can say the film carries the multitude of characters well.
Casing point is James McAvoy, who continues his big screen storm with yet another deeply unhinged character (see this year's Trance) and he is utterly engrossing here as a plotting, immoral monster. The meat of the film is his terrorism of his peers, mostly through ruining their relationships and destroying their professionalism, elevating himself in the eyes of his superiors in the process. Begin a loud, angry procession of drugs, drinking and sex, all from McAvoy's Bruce Robertson's perspective.
Of course, it doesn't stop there. Trainspotting had its own level of surrealism, and Filth certainly maintains that as it develops. We see our lead character slowly unravel and experience intense fever dreams, and the plot itself deliberately collapses along with him. Underneath this growing pile of human depravity, the film lands a surprisingly deep twist to take the entire audience by surprise (I don't want to spoil it for those like me who haven't read the book!)
It also sports a great sense of humour, executed frequently with McAvoy's sly expressions, a lot of it comes from Scotland's own personality (Bruce's inner monologue about the Scottish people is great)
It is a certificate 18, hard R film, it isn't a film I would re-watch over and over, but it is something to behold at least once in your life. I could argue further that the film (for how loaded it is) could have been a bit longer; as we see more of Bruce's past the more it becomes fleeting glances, I would have liked just a little more of it. But then that may have lessened the film's cleverness.
If you can stomach a lot of drug-use, sex and jarringly strange visuals at times, give it a try! I guarantee you haven't seen anything like it.
The Angel's Share is something of a film with two halves from British director Ken Loach.
I don't normally go in for movies driven by modern socialism issues, but this film stayed in my local cinema for months and I was interested to see what it was all about!
The film follows four youths who have been given community service in Glasgow, most specifically new father Robbie. The film begins bleakly; he only manages to escape prison time due to his reforming nature upon becoming a father, and the film proceeds to follow his goal to give his son the best chance to have a family.
While his past claws back at Robbie in the form of thugs out to kill him, his community service leader gives him and his group a chance to see a whiskey distillery. While there, Robbie has a plan to make enough money to allow his new family a chance.
Like I say, the beginning of the film is bleak and has an intensity about it that threatens you to believe that will be all you're getting. But when the group get to the distillery and hatch their plan, the film grows a very British down-and-out sense of humour, it almost reminded me of a less pretentious Stone of Destiny. I will say though the character of Albert irked me in his deliberate stupidity. One scene has him pointing at Edinburgh Castle and ask things like: "What is that??" "Why's it up there??" Seriously...?
I don't know, The Angel's Share didn't do that much for me... It has some very honest and good moments (especially around the community serviceman Harry) and the last thirty to sixty minutes are probably its best part, but I suppose it isn't my sort of film at the end of the day.
If you like comedy dramas that are a slice-of-life, both in the UK and Scotland specifically, give it a shot.
Brave is probably one of the simpler outings from Pixar, but it is very easy on the eyes and strikes a nice balance of fun and maturity.
Merida is a Scottish princess whose wild, playful, adventurous nature is completely smothered with her mother's idea of what a princess should be. When their strife gets the better of them, Merida seeks aid from a mysterious old woman living in the forest to "change her mother" and settle the argument.
Bar one exception (cough, Cars 2) Pixar is one studio that consistently excels both in storytelling and visual flare, and one can easily set the bar far higher when judging their products and root out any flaws... Brave is a simple tale compared to the other more "sprawling" stories, and feels like a short hundred minutes, but it makes up for this with having a big heart, immensely likeable characters, beautiful animation and a surprisingly dark, sometimes sinister tone.
That's right, there's a lot of mystery and magic in Brave's story (and in its PR; seriously I knew very little going into it) and some of the younger audience, especially the very little, might find it scary and confusing in an emotional manner. While it isn't as heart-wrenching as UP, its emotional strife is more around family, family conflict and misunderstanding. It is a great twist on what could have been another Disney princess story.
That's all the adult stuff, there is plenty for the kids too! While Brave has some terrific scares, it has some good slapstick fights and chase scenes that don't feel as abrasive as UP's. Merida's three younger brothers are a hoot, and frankly all of the characters are instantly likeable. Yes, the Scottish accents are insanely thick (sometimes deliberately undecipherable!) but as a Scot, I wasn't offended, in fact I was impressed with the vocabulary that Pixar was dishing out. It gave the film a happy-go-lucky, heart-over-mind charm.
Overall, if you don't expect too much, Brave is an excellent family animation with "family" at its core. Simple, but has something for everyone.
Additional Marshmallows: It should be added; this is very much Merida's story, there's no love story crammed in, no charming prince, which was refreshing!
