Ultimately, Barney Thomson’s roots are exposed too easily, and the question of “where’d they get that from?” often trumps our curiosity of where the film at hand is going, and that’s a problem.
Carlyle shoots the story with a propulsive, page-turning energy that’s enjoyably at odds with the Glasgow backdrop, which is dilapidated to the point of timelessness.
Emma Thompson gives us a scene-stealing performance which is enjoyably macabre.
60
Time Out LondonCath Clarke
Time Out LondonCath Clarke
There are more than a few false notes here.... Still, the sight of Emma Thompson, wearing old-lady prosthetics and a leopard skin coat as Barney’s mum...is not to be missed.
While the casting of Thompson, just two years Carlyle's senior is a gamble that could easily have seemed gimmicky, the half-Scottish Oscar-winner is a riot as the grotesque Cemolina, a raucously broad-accented, chain-smoking schemer resplendent in faux-ocelot
Despite the fertile concept, it's hard to care about, much less root for, the irritable, charisma-challenged Barney. The character never emerges as an effective hero or antihero, and performer Carlyle does little to mitigate that.
40
CineVueJamie Neish
CineVueJamie Neish
The Legend of Barney Thomson has a few redeeming features scattered throughout, but for Carlyle it's much too bland and undefined.