Michael Caton-Jones's 1995 yarn trod a Braveheart-like path in its attempt to ennoble another Scottish folk hero. Unfortunately, where context was needed, they inserted sudsy romance
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Entertainment grade: D+
History grade: D
Robert Roy MacGregor, known as Rob Roy, was an outlaw and a folk hero at the time of the Jacobite risings.
International relations
Hairy, sturdy-thighed Highlanders swarm manfully through the glens, hunting cattle thieves. Meanwhile, the English-accented Scottish aristocracy – the Duke of Montrose (John Hurt) and his fictional sidekick Archibald Cunningham (Tim Roth) – mince around in lace and curly wigs. "It is years, your grace, since I buggered a boy," simpers Cunningham. "I thought him a girl at the moment of entry." So far, so Braveheart: the baddies are English and queer, the goodies are Scottish and ruggedly hetero. And by "Scottish", the film means "American". There's even an irrelevant subplot about one...
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Entertainment grade: D+
History grade: D
Robert Roy MacGregor, known as Rob Roy, was an outlaw and a folk hero at the time of the Jacobite risings.
International relations
Hairy, sturdy-thighed Highlanders swarm manfully through the glens, hunting cattle thieves. Meanwhile, the English-accented Scottish aristocracy – the Duke of Montrose (John Hurt) and his fictional sidekick Archibald Cunningham (Tim Roth) – mince around in lace and curly wigs. "It is years, your grace, since I buggered a boy," simpers Cunningham. "I thought him a girl at the moment of entry." So far, so Braveheart: the baddies are English and queer, the goodies are Scottish and ruggedly hetero. And by "Scottish", the film means "American". There's even an irrelevant subplot about one...
- 1/14/2010
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
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