While Glenrothan is a great post-card for the West Scottish Highlands, the beautiful scenery can not pull the film out of the mediocrity that it unfortunately falls into.
With the West Scottish Highlands as background and starring Brian Cox, Alan Cumming and Shirley Henderson, Glenrothan would seem to have the needed foundation to be an excellent film, however while it is interesting, it unfortunately doesn’t reach any great depth.
The film centres on two estranged brothers, Sandy (Brian Cox) and Donal (Alan Cumming), who have not seen each other for nearly forty years. Donal moved to America after their mother died. Donal owns a blues/jazz bar with his daughter, Amy (Alexandra Shipp), in Chicago and is an author. Sandy has become sick and has written to Donal inviting him to return to Scotland to reconcile their differences. Amy tries to convince Donal to go with her on her and her daughter’s, Sasha (Alexandra Wilkie), annual trip to visit Sandy in Scotland.
Donal’s bar burns down and Amy convinces Donal to join her trip to Scotland while the insurance is sorted out and the repairs on the bar begin. Upon his return to the family owned distillery and home, Donal remains aloof with his brother as the memories of his mother, dominating father and the events that led to him leaving come back to him in flashbacks. Donal is also reunited with Jess (Shirley Henderson) who was his best friend before he left. Jess has stayed with the family business and become master blender for the distillery. The two brothers and Jess then begin the task of sorting out their differences.
Glenrothan is Brian Cox’s directorial debut and he has struggled to gel the characters together in a meaningful way and the performances appear disjointed and hollow as a consequence. Co-written by David Ashton and Jeff Murphy, both more known for their television work rather than films, their script doesn’t create great intensity in the characters or events. Cox and Cumming are fine actors but both struggle to find any great development of their characters. Henderson is the best of the main performances but again is limited by Cox’s directions and the script.
While Glenrothan is a great post-card for the West Scottish Highlands, the beautiful scenery can’t pull the film out of the mediocrity that it unfortunately falls into.
Reviewed by Rob McKinnon
Rating 3 out of 5
Distributor: LionsgateFilms
