The Legend of Barney Thomson (2015)

Thanks for the memories!

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Robert Carlyle is Barney Thomson, a 50 something loner and mama's boy who works as a barber in Glasgow. His mother is played by Emma Thompson, who is magnificent as a hard drinking, chain smoking compulsive gambler. Barney drafts his mom to help him after he accidentally kills his boss and requires her assistance in hiding the body. What follows is an hilarious series of bizarre events, including the pursuit by a foul mouthed detective, Hold all(Ray Winestone). My only criticism is that as an American, I had trouble at times with the heavy Scottish accents. I would recommend subtitles for any viewers not from Scotland. The look of the film is a cross breeding of Quentin Tarrantino and the Coen brothers, most especially Fargo. A solid 7.5/10.

At twelve minutes and thirty two seconds I had to abandon this film secure in my new found belief that all of Scotland has something stuck in their throat.I have a serious aversion to subtitles because if I want to read, I know where books are located. So you can imagine my thoughts on a movie that is allegedly in English but still require subtitles to understand.I'm not advising that you don't give it a go. As for me, I'm getting older and am not willing to strain through this thing. The chances of it ending up sucking are just too great.It looks like it has potential, but if the good people of Scotland want to be a part of my movie going experience; They're going to have to spit out the marbles.

Review: This movie definitely has a unique but weird storyline with some brilliant performances from the cast, especially Emma Thompson and Ray Winstone. It's hard to explain the plot without spoiling it for the people who haven't watched it but I will give it a go! The story takes place in Glasgow and it's about a barber called Barney (Robert Carlyle), who has very little people skills and finds it hard to chat to the customers who come to the shop for there haircut. After a while, the shop owner decides to employ a fresh new barber who is willing to interact with the customers, so he eventually sacks Barney who takes the news quite badly because he hasn't got any other forms of pleasure in his life. Whilst pleading to stay employed with the shop owner, a random accident happens which changes Barney's life forever. He runs to his mum, Cemolina (Emma Thompson), for help, only to find that she also has many skeletons in her closet as well. Whilst under investigation from the hot headed cop Holdall (Ray Winstone), he tries to cover his tracks from the fatal accident that happened with his boss but his work colleague works out what Barney has been up to, so they also have an heated argument which leads to another fatal accident. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Barney disposes the bodies with the cops hot on his tale but they soon work out who is the true culprit of the murders in the area, which leads to a showdown that really isn't what was expected! If you take this movie seriously, you really won't enjoy it because the far fetched storyline really does go a bit over the top in places. Although Barney had a motif for the first murder, he should have just gone to the police because it was an honest mistake, which they would have worked out with forensics. With that aside, Ray Winstone just plays his usual cockney self but he does show some true emotion in parts of the film. Emma Thompson's transformation was excellent and her accent was spot on, along with her mannerisms and "hard woman/mother" demeanor which is far from the everyday Emma Thompson that we have seen in real life. The storyline was a bit sketchy in places but this extremely dark comedy was well put together well by Robert Carlyle. The showdown at the end was a bit ridiculous and I personally thought that it spoilt the movie but it's still worth a watch, just for its originality and great performances. You might need to watch it with subtitles because Carlyle and Thompson's accents are really strong. Watchable!Round-Up: Since his big break in Trainspotting and the highly acclaimed Full Monty, Robert Carlyle, 54, has been in and out of the spotlight with movies like Angela's Ashes, The World Is Not Enough, Plunkett & Maclean, There's Only One Jimmy Grimble, the Beach, the 51st State with Samuel L. Jackson, Eragon and 28 Weeks Later. You can tell that he's not really into the whole Hollywood glamour scene, so he seems to keep himself low key, even when he's starring in a Bond movie or big movies like the Beach with DiCaprio. This is the first major release with Carlyle in the directors chair, so I have to rate him for getting the most out of a top cast. The stupidity of Barney actions is questionable throughout the film but it's still a decent watch.I recommend this movie to people who are into their crime/comedies starring Robert Carlyle, Emma Thompson, Ray Winstone and Tom Courtenay. 5/10

What starts off like it's going to head into Guy Ritchie mk1 territory, this veers sharply into the often difficult waters of black comedy. But oh it's damn good. Emma Thompson steals the show; having seen her in no less that 20 films over the years, there is no doubt that she is in her element here as a the protagonist's part mum/part xxxxxx. Both Carlyle and the ever angry 'ard Winstone also deliver powerful and hilarious performances. I have a sneaking suspicion that in a few years' time, this film will be regarded as a British cult classic. Why? With a storyline like this, there are usually dozens of cringe worthy lines that a whole host of actors fail to deliver with conviction; not here-- the tightness of the script reminds me of films like The Business, Withnail & I, Trainspotting and even Extras; the comparison with the latter two being (intentional?) inevitable. The casting of Ashley Jenson playing decidedly off character is another masterstroke. With the exception of Birdman, there hasn't been a film I want to almost immediately re-watch on DVD so soon after seeing it in the theatres because I am sure there are buried gems I've probably missed. I've seen a number of mixed reviews of this in the press but I hope it will rise above it because it's definitely one of the best British efforts of the last year.