GLENROTHAN Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Brian Cox
Stars: Alan Cumming, Brian Cox, Shirley Henderson, Alexander Schipp, Alexander Wilkie, Alan Cox.
Actor Brian Cox (best known for his Emmy award winning role as the Roy family patriarch in the tv series Succession, etc) makes his directorial debut with the low key and old-fashioned drama Glenrothan, which offers up another variation on the familiar theme of the prodigal son returning home. The film is set in the fictional distillery town of Glenrothan in the picturesque Scottish highlands. The drama plays out against this pristine backdrop, which has been beautifully brought to life by the panoramic cinematography of Jaime Ackroyd.
For forty years Sandy Nairn (Cox) has been running the 200-year-old family distillery business ever since his younger brother Donal (Alan Cumming) left and established himself as a jazz musician and nightclub owner in Chicago. When his nightclub burns down Donal decides to briefly visit home, accompanied by his daughter Amy (Alexander Schipp) and precocious 12-year-old granddaughter Sasha (Alexandra Wilkie, making her film debut).
While Amy and Sasha have often visited Sandy in Scotland, Donal has steadfastly refused to come. He didn’t even return for his father’s funeral, which is another source of contention. This is the first time that Donal has made the trip to see his estranged brother and the tension between them is palpable. A few flashback sequences sketch out the reasons why Donal fled the family home all those years ago and explains why Sandy feels bitter.
Sandy is sick and worried about the business and who will take over. He is also a little bitter and angry at having been left to cope with their father’s mood and help out with the business alone. Donal slowly begins to reconnect with family friend Jess (Shirley Henderson) who helps run the business with Sandy. He also reconnects with the land and the countryside.
But Donal also has another reason behind his visit, which raises some ugly secrets and scars from the brothers’ troubled past, which mainly centre around their stern and hardnosed father (Alan Cox). Many family issues need to be resolved.
Although the script from actor and writer David Ashton (who mainly hails from a background in television drama) and Jeff Murphy (tv series Hinterland, etc) is a tad predictable and cliched, Glenrothan is an enjoyable drama with its nicely drawn characters and its potent themes of family conflicts, legacy, forgiveness, and the past.
Glenrothan is a little old fashioned in style. Cox’s direction is deliberately slow, rather straightforward and occasionally sentimental and not flashy. Emotionally it seems a bit restrained with no big dramatic moments.
Cox is generous with his actors, giving them room to breathe and develop their characters. He and Cumming are both strong as the estranged brothers trying to find some common ground amidst their shared pain. Cox tones down his usual belligerent style to play the irascible and bitter but warm Sandy. Cast against type Cumming delivers one of the strongest performances of his career as the complex and deeply flawed and self-centred Donal. Shipp brings strength to her role as Amy. Henderson makes the most of her role as Jess, bringing some much needed spark and energy to the material.
Glenrothan is something of a love letter to Scotland. The strong musical score from Tommy Reilly and Roddy Hart is also something of a bonus.
★★★
