A well-researched, carefully made period film which tells of the struggle of a good, honest man (Rob Roy, Liam Neeson) against powerful, evil rogues (Cunningham, Tim Roth and Montrose, John Hurt) who have unjustly wronged him. It is set in early 18th Century Scotland.The problem is that Montrose and Cunningham are far more interesting, witty, fun, and entertaining to watch than Rob Roy, who is portrayed here as a bland, unrealistically perfect hero gifted with the beautiful, loving wife and two adoring children.If we were ever shown Rob Roy getting angry at his wife, yelling at his kids, or indeed demonstrating any kind of human failing - greed, malice, selfishness, anger - there might have been a chance to feel sympathy towards him. Instead he basically walks though the film as the empty "good guy" avatar.So it's a very unbalanced movie, with memorable, exciting and deeply human villains that you long to see more of, and a boring hero with no discernible human personality you don't care about.Watch this for the duels, especially the final one, and Tim Roth's captivating performance as Cunningham. If only Rob Roy had been written and played to the same caliber as Cunningham - the battle presented as between two equals, both flawed and both resourceful - this movie would have been catapulted into 10/10, classic for the ages territory but alas it was not to be.

"Rob Roy" was made at a time when the success of "Dances with Wolves" and "Unforgiven" had revived interest in the traditional Western, and director Michael Caton-Jones, himself a Scot, has admitted that the film is essentially a disguised Western. It transfers what could be a classic Western plot from 19thcentury America to early 18th century Scotland, with claymores standing in for six-shooters. The hero is even a cattle drover or, as Americans would put it, a cowboy. That hero, Robert Roy MacGregor, was a real historical figure who also features in Walter Scott's novel of the same name. ("Roy" in this context was a nickname, derived from Gaelic, meaning "red-haired", but here it is treated as a second Christian name; Liam Neeson does not play the part in a red wig).The film does not follow Scott's plot but is loosely based on the facts of the real MacGregor's life. In 1713 Rob Roy, a clan chief in the Scottish Highlands, is financially ruined by the machinations of the unscrupulous Marquess of Montrose and his villainous protégé Archibald Cunningham. (Cunningham is fictitious but Montrose was another real person). Cunningham has been described as an "aristocrat", but this is not really accurate because, for all his dandyish appearance and foppish mannerisms, he is really the illegitimate son of a prostitute and does not know who his real father is. Montrose has probably taken him under his wing because he recognises in him a kindred spirit, equally unscrupulous and even more ruthless.When Rob Roy is unable to repay the money he owes, Montrose has him declared an outlaw, seizes his land and slaughters his cattle; Cunningham brutally rapes his wife Mary. Rob Roy and his followers, who have fled into hiding in the mountains, wage a guerrilla campaign of revenge against Montrose, stealing his cattle and other property.This was one of two historical films with a Scottish setting made in 1995, the other being the Oscar-winning "Braveheart". The two films share one feature, namely a somewhat disapproving attitude towards homosexuality, which today makes them look rather old-fashioned, even though they were only made around twenty years ago. In "Braveheart" the future King Edward II is portrayed as stereotypically weak and effeminate, whereas here the treacherous Cunningham is gratuitously made bisexual, a lover of boys as well as women, a piece of characterisation which the scriptwriter presumably thought would make him seem all the nastier.That said, I must say that I found "Rob Roy" a considerably better film than the much-hyped "Braveheart". Mel Gibson's epic is a reasonably entertaining adventure story, but it does have its faults, quite apart from its many historical inaccuracies. It is overlong by at least half an hour, and the acting is of a variable standard. In "Rob Roy" Caton-Jones paces the action in a more satisfactory way than does Gibson, and the acting is also a lot better. I was not too keen on Tim Roth's performance, as I felt that he made Cunningham a bit too much of a one-dimensional pantomime villain, but there are three outstanding contributions from Neeson, Jessica Lange and John Hurt.Despite his status as Chief of Clan MacGregor, Rob Roy lives simply in a modest house which contrasts sharply with Montrose's elaborate palace. The code by which he lives is equally simple- honesty, loyalty and honour; when Montrose offers to forgive Rob's debt if Rob will testify falsely against one of Montrose's enemies, Rob indignantly refuses. Hurt's Montrose appears to be an elegant, courtly gentleman, but his surface sophistication hides a ruthless opportunist who will use other people in any way he can, provided it is to his advantage. Mary MacGregor could simply have come across as a hapless victim and little else, but Lange (who copes well with the Scottish accent) instead plays her as a tough, independent-minded woman who frequently disagrees with her husband even though she loves him dearly.The sword-fighting scenes, particularly the climactic duel between Rob Roy and Cunningham, were well handled; the film-makers clearly realised that the Scottish claymore was a heavier weapon than the duelling rapiers more commonly seen on screen and called for a different fighting style. Overall this is a splendid, stirring historical yarn on the themes of honour, love and loyalty. 8/10

Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but I watched this film cuddled up with my wife, I had no idea of the plot, although I had heard vaguely about Rob Roy the great Scottish hero.The film never pretends to be an epic, and there are some beautiful performances by the actors. Liam Neeson in the lead and Jessica Lange, who looked stunning despite her bedraggled attire. Also Tim Roth is a thoroughly believable nasty piece of work.I don't know how true the story line keeps to the historical context, films like Braveheart where the French Princess was actually only 4 years old when Wallace invaded England, had plenty of made up stuff in it.However as a film this is really enjoyable, one for a romantic night in, with some excellent acting.

Liam Neeson is Robert Roy MacGregor, a Scot, and a natural leader who has had some shady dealings in the past but now wants to work for legitimate improvement in his lot, for him, his family, his friends. To do this he chooses to borrow 1,000 pounds from a British nobleman, for 3 months, at 1/5th interest. He will repay 1200 pounds.With this he will buy cattle and double his money with his plan. He doesn't actually want the money per se, he wants the line of credit. However his friend is fooled, convinced Rob Roy wants the money, he is given the money and set up to be robbed and killed, his body dumped in a lake, and Rob Roy left to wonder if he stole the money and took off.Meanwhile the natural tension between the Scots and the British take over, the English nobleman wants Rob Roy's land and have him imprisoned. But Rob Roy takes off, and threatens the nobleman's man, Tim Roth as Archibald Cunningham, a man with NO honor and only cares about himself. He actually is the one who stole the money. In turn Cunningham and his men show up at Rob Roy's home and not finding him, rape his wife, Jessica Lange as Mary MacGregor, and burn his home. This sets up the rest of the story, with Rob Roy vowing to see Cunningham dead.The nobleman is John Hurt as Montrose. His other key associate is Brian Cox as Killearn. All this sets up the final duel, with swords, between Rob Roy and Cunningham, a superior swordsman. But, guess who comes out the victor?