The Legend of Barney Thomson (2015) Reviews

• Solidly entertaining directorial debut from Robert Carlyle

  Red-Barracuda2015-06-17

  This crime-comedy is lead actor Robert Carlyle's directorial debut. In it he plays the title character who is a late middle-aged barber living a life of humiliations who accidentally kills his boss after an argument, leading to a chain reaction of ever worsening events. Typified by distinctive on-location shooting in the east end of Glasgow, this is a pretty good effort all round. It benefits from some effective comic acting by its cast, aside from Carlyle himself the two other standouts are Ray Winstone as a cockney cop displeased to be stationed north of the border and, best of all, working under heavy make-up Emma Thompson is very convincing as Carlyle's elderly Glaswegian mother; as per usual she puts in fine work here and nails her character pretty firmly. The plot-line isn't really massively interesting to be fair and, instead, the film works as a character-driven comedy. Fortunately, the characters are, for the most part, well-drawn and the comedy is often pretty funny. Things are ultimately rounded off with a finale that is perhaps a little predictable once the basic set-up is established but for this it can be forgiven. All-in-all, while it doesn't exactly break the mould, this film is still a pretty solid bit of fun.

• Hugely enjoyable, uniquely Glasgow

  kenny-154-6090182015-08-02

  Greatly enjoyed this film. The weakest element is probably the story which is on the improbable end of the spectrum but, as long as you forgive the absurdity of the plot and just go with the flow, it's a thoroughly enjoyable 90 minutes. They could also possibly have done with a little more explanation of the back-story rather than jumping straight in - some might find it all a little complicated especially in the first half hour. The comedy is uniquely Glasgow and the language typically (and authentically!) blue. Visually it's all nicely shot with some of the more off-beat Glasgow landmarks featuring prominently. The acting is great with, as others have noted, standout performances by both Emma Thomson & Ray Winstone. I can't help thinking that Robert Carlyle as Director got better performances out of his other leads than he did out of Robert Carlyle (Actor) - perhaps the double responsibility of first time director and lead actor was a little too much to pull off. Not that his performance was bad, just a little lacking in finesse in places. Minor criticisms apart, this is a very enjoyable movie and well worth watching.

• Aye

  eryui2016-02-07

  This is a funny noir comedy, well made with an excellent cast. I really like Carlyle so I could not be completely impartial. It is a film that gives you some laughs, but it does not let you to yell to miracle. I don't see it as a cult movie (like could be "The Full Monty" to me) as I have read here in the comments. It needed something more. The actors and the dialogue are the masters here, but also the scenery, the photograph is taken care of. It is well packaged but the plot is not very thorough, it might have been better use the element of surprise and a few more dialog jokes would not hurt at all too. It is not very exciting and it feel like a little flat. In any case, the movie has managed to put a smile on my face from beginning to end giving me a few very good laugh. A good debut for Carlyle as a director with some space for improvement. It should be 7/10 to me.

• The darkest comedy gets, and I love it

  NateWatchesCoolMovies2016-02-15

  Robert Carlyle's directional debut The Legend Of Barney Thomsen is as pitch friggin black as dark comedies get, and is a side splitting royal circus of cheekily depressing, gloriously gory antics that would make the inhabitants of Fargo run for cover. It also has the distinct flavour of Scotland on its side, every character articulating with a soup thick, snark oozing brogue that throws a devilishly funny haze over the already hilarious comic material. Carlyle plays pathetic barber Barney Thomsen, a volatile, feeble little man who's been relegated to the worst chair in the barbershop, and told what an aggravating, listless nonce he is by his colleagues ("you look like a haunted tree" his supervisor intones in dead seriousness). When they threaten to fire him, he accidentally murders his supervisor with a pair of scissors, and kicks offa blood soaked odyssey of such head banging idiocracy that one can only view this as an ultraviolent looney toons cartoon of murder and madness. Barney finds himself in way over his head and tries to excavate himself out of the dodgy situation he got himself into. There's also a serial killer on the loose in Glasgow that likes to mail body parts to the police, including a dick and a full severed human buttocks, in giddily explicit detail. He's pursued by a maniacal police detective played by Ray Winstone, who plays the role like a Christmas ham hooked up to jumper cable powered by methamphetamine. For an actor to out-crazy Robert Carlyle takes a lot of effort, but Winstone is game, pulling the cork of sanity right out for a howlingly funny piece of work. And then there's Emma Thompson. Holeee crap. I've never seen her cut loose like she does here, playing Barney's cantankerous, potty mouthed, shrivelled old walnut of a mother. She's caked in paper mâché looking makeup and gurgles forth the funniest Scottish accenting the film. You'd have to check the credits to know its Thompson having a bit of fun from her usual serious fare as this skanky, deplorable old baboon and loving every minute of it. Thrown in James Cosmo and a priceless Tom Courtney as a cynical Superintendent, and you've got a cast that's game to give their all for director Carlyle, whose already established competence in off kilter comedic acting clearly extends wonderfully behind the camera as well. A blistering powder keg to kick off 2016, and a full on blood soaked barrel of laughs.

• Full with irony, wallowing and bitterness, Barney Thomson is a comedy for an acquired taste

  quincytheodore2016-02-08

  The titular Barney Thomson (Robert Carlyle) is a less than friendly man, he complains about many things and is generally unapproachable. One day he stumbles upon a series of hazardously unfortunate events which lead him into awkward world of crime. This is a very distinct style of comedy, which can be poignantly funny at times, but also riddled with tons of profanity and can be even resentful, thus it probably caters to more adult audience. Acting is sharply over-the-top as Barney wonders into sillier antics than the last, involving his strange mom as well as detectives hell bent on pursuing a serial killer. It's a harsh unapologetic direction for comedy, a bit similar to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, certainly not a light watch for casual or younger audience, but for mature demographic the oddities might be a treat. The cast performs with intense gusto and yelling, which is also one of the movie's quirks. Its accent is very thick, when said in fast pace it can be confusing, so subtitles would be helpful for this case. It can be jarring when the movie tries to pull off a strangely dark tone, borderline uncomfortably so. Furthermore, the actors seem truly invested on delivering all around antagonizing characters, thus there's no real heroes here. The movie could be vulgar at times, yet its crude and bloody nature might be ironically entertaining.