Glenrothan Review

Glenrothan serves as Brian Cox’s directorial debut at the young age of 79. He aims to make a love letter to his homeland.

Sandy (Cox) is the owner of a family distillery that’s about to celebrate its 200th anniversary. He writes to his estranged brother, Donal (Alan Cumming), about his poor health and asks him to return to Scotland. When Donal’s club in Chicago gets burnt down, he joins his daughter, Amy (Alexandra Shipp) and granddaughter, Sasha (Alexandra Wilkie), for a tough homecoming.

Glenrothan has been released a couple of weeks after California Schemin’ and within six months of I Swear’s release. It’s good to see a small increase in films coming from north of the border. Glenrothan was a proudly Scottish film. There were lush shots of the Scottish landscape, showcasing landmarks like the Forth Bridges and the Kelpies statues, and highlighting Scottish culture. The village’s economy and community were built around the distillery, which produced one of Scotland’s biggest exports. There was a long scene where Donal joined a band in the local pub and sang Scottish folk songs. It makes a change from seeing Scotland as a land of council estates and deindustrialisation.

Glenrothan does have a personal core. Returning to Glenrothan was a painful experience for Donal. He let down his brother and ex-girlfriend, Jess (Shirley Henderson); he lost his mother, and his father was crude and tough on his younger son. Donal fled his home village because of his father’s cruelty, even though Donal wanted to stay. Sandy resented Donal because the older brother was forced to stay and take over the family business, while he wanted to leave the village. The film gave Cumming a more subdued, reflective role, which stood in contrast to his usual flamboyant roles.

Glenrothan had a standard story, but it was a foundation on which to build. Unfortunately, it was hampered by a clunky screenplay. It aimed to be as functional and safe as possible. There was no risk or flair. It was a predictable film, such as a reveal involving the insurance for Donal’s bar. Despite the familial tensions, Glenrothan was a low-stakes affair with little drama, despite how much is attempted to be manufactured. Cox’s relaxed direction took away any energy and tension the film could produce. The dialogue was noticeably bad because it was made up of exposition where characters were telling each other information they already knew. Shipp got the worst of this since she was just an exposition machine.

The film did have some bizarre casting choices. Cox and Cumming are Scottish acting legends, but they were unconvincing as brothers. There’s nearly a 20-year age difference between the two. Cumming’s still had some youthful energy since he was driving a motorbike, and performing music, whilst Cox looked his age. Shipp looked young enough to be Cox’s granddaughter, not his niece with a 9-year-old daughter. The best part of the cast was Shirley Henderson, since she was a pint-size force of nature who was a caring career woman but could give the brothers a good telling off when needed. I do want to give Aidan Redmond a shout-out because he was a big, strong man who felt like the older version of an actor that I worked with. He was the only actor who got to wear a kilt.