Glenrothan: Movie Review

Cast: Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Shirley Henderson, Alexandra Shipp
Director: Brian Cox

Succession and Manhunter star Brian Cox reveals a more tender side in his directorial debut, the gentle drama Glenrothan.

The stories of two brothers reunited after years apart offers no real surprises as it unfurls amid a sea of B-roll footage of rolling hills and Scottish isles that feel ripped from a tourism campaign, aimed at getting travellers to Scotland.

Cox and Cumming play brothers Sandy and Donal - Sandy has spent years working at the family distillery, whereas Donal left for America and hasn't been back since, preferring to live life in his jazz bar in Chicago. But when Sandy writes to Donal asking for him to come home, he finds there's a chance to return to the Highlands with his daughter (Shipp) in tow.

Unfolding through flashbacks and with hints of Donal suffering a disgrace that forced him out of Scotland and Sandy's life, Glenrothan does little to surprise viewers, preferring instead to let the genial performances of both Cox and Cumming to lead an audience through a linear recounting of what happened.

In between that, there's plenty of moments of sibling issues rising to the fore, as well as Henderson's patient waiting in the wings Jess hinting that she wants more to do with the distillery.

It would be unfair to dismiss Glenrothan as boring or without bite - in truth, it's handsomely helmed, gently executed and would suit older members of the audience well. Both Cumming and Cox are affable enough, and the hints of regrets, succession and time running out are well handled.

But while this whisky-led drama doesn't really leave a sour aftertaste, it is unfortunately patently forgettable after it's played out.