The Legend of Barney Thomson Review

I thought I'd do something a bit different for this blog post as I had been waiting for this film for a while and I managed to get a ticket to it's premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival! What is it you may ask? Robert Carlyle's feature directorial debut, The Legend of Barney Thomson (not his VERY first since he directed an episode of Stargate Universe).

Glaswegian Barney Thomson (played by Robert Carlyle) is a meek barber with a monotonous life at risk of losing his job due to his behaviour with customers, but after he accidentally kills his boss (played by Stephen McCole) during an argument, he goes to his brash & eccentric mother Cemolina (played by Emma Thomspon) for help over the situation. But after his victim's disappearance arouses suspicion in the local area, the police investigate including Cockney Inspector Holdall (played by Ray Winstone) & Detective June Robertson (played by Ashley Jensen), as they believe that this is connected to another case involving a murderer mailing chopped up body parts to the victims' family/friends in a similar area, which also doesn't help as Barney ends up killing colleague & rival barber Chris (played by Martin Compston) after he discovers the truth and is blackmailed by his friend Charlie (played by Brian Pettifer). But as his life & mind spirals out of control due to the dark secrets he's keeping from everyone & the police aggressively pursuing him, Barney discovers some more twists & turns as he inadvertantly becomes a serial killer.

Going into this with little to no knowledge of the source material the film was based on (the book The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson by Douglas Lindsay) other than the basic premise of a barber turned serial killer, I was expecting something along the lines of a modernized Sweeney Todd (which is ironically referenced in this film). Although that is true in the most basic way possible, the way they handle it is different in that the serial killing is really reduced to 2 people which both occur unintentionally and most of the film deals with the consequences of Barney's actions as the police aggressively pursue him along with his mother assisting him & having to hide the truth from his colleagues. The side plot involving the murders was also an interesting one due to the absurdity of it & how the police deal with it along with persuing Barney. The humour in this is also very well done & executed thanks to the witty dialogue, execution and acting as it managed to make me go hysterical in my seat, including sequences where Barney tries to come up with a cover story for his murder in a flat in London but finding many setbacks when trying to dispose the chopped up body parts and Barney discovering his mother had left the body in her fridge chopped up while her friends from bingo are in her flat. One issue I do have however, is the ending (which I won't say for spoilers) as it admittedly felt a bit redundant after all of the events that occur along with a subplot over Barney's father coming out of nowhere in the final act and some of it feeling predictable. I will say it's not the worst ending ever & it definitely didn't ruin the experience for me as the film is more character driven than plot driven.

The strongest aspect of this film for me is most definitely the cast, all of whom are absolutely fantastic as they all suit their parts perfectly partly thanks to Carlyle's direction. Although the part of the title character may not be as well written/developed or as over the top as his previous works, Robert's performance is of course perfect! While he may be more restrained in this, he does have moments with making the character sympathetic despite his actions along with many comedic due to his character's personality & the contrast while interacting with Winstone & Thompson's part and comedic timing. Emma Thompson as Barney's mother Cemolina is easily the most entertaining out of all the cast as she dons a Pat Butcher-style wardrobe with a thick Scottish brogue and brash personality, although I will say that it was admittedly hard for me to be convinced that her & Carlyle were acting as mother & son given that there's only a one year age gap between the actors despite the heavy prosthetics used for the former to appear much older and the funny chemistry between them. Ray Winstone's Cockney Inspector Holdall also gets laughs thanks to his fish-out-of-water moments in Glasgow and displeasure of being located there along with his rivalry & banter with Ashley Jensen's driven Detective Robertson & it does feel refreshing as none of the main female characters serve to be love interests in this. Others from the supporting cast like James Cosmo as James Henderson, Tom Courtenay as Superintendant McMananan and Martin Compston as Chris all suited their parts very well and also managed to get laughs out of me.

The visual style of the film is also a massive praise I must give, as it goes for the indie/art-house style similar to works by Quentin Tarantino or Wes Andersen, including the motif of the colour red, the heavy use of dark lighting along with the setting of the east-end of Glasgow giving it a very distinct & gritty look. The editing & camera-work including numerous wide angle lense shots, dutch angles, slow motion, time-lapses and dolly zooms also manage to create a rather amusing yet rather unsettling atmosphere as more revelations come into play and Barney's life gets more and more out of control.

 

As his directorial debut, the Legend of Barney Thomson is a solid one for Mr Carlyle. With an exceptional cast, many humourous moments, interesting twists, quirky visuals and a nostalgic soundtrack, this black comedy will take you by surprise for the most part!
Rating: ****
And believe it or not, I actually got to meet Robert himself! If I can be perfectly honest, I'm still in shock that I've met the actor who plays my absolute favourite Once Upon A Time character (who also happens to be my favourite actor of all time) and he is such a nice man (and I did get a kiss from him)!

The Legend of Barney Thomson will be released in cinemas on July 24th.