Being Scottish, and being from Glasgow, I had to see this movie.It has the feel of a 'modern sweeney todd', in this case a bumbling and hapless accidental sweeney todd, who somehow spontaneously kills people, often just by touching them. The strange accidents that result in the deaths of his co-workers are definitely some of the least believable murders I have ever seen.All of this accomplished by Hollywood's 'New Favorite Scottish Actor', - Robert Carlyle, Bobby, who appears to be the go-to guy for a Scottish character lately (Ewan Mcgregor sighs and thanks him)Saving the day is Emma Thompson, as usual. I would rate this role by Emma as Oscar worthy and one of her best. She absolutely NAILS the old Glasgow biddy as Bobby's ma, with a wee bit o spark left in-er, and the laughs are frequent every time she is on screen and pulling off a flawless guttural lower-class Glaswegian accent.The movie begins as a dark comedy, with bumbling inspectors in not so hot pursuit of a serial killer in Glasgow that is chopping up it's victims and mailing them to loved ones. As our hapless and clutsy barber, who just seems to get people killed by accident but is not the serial killer, slowly clues in to the horror that the real killer may be his own mother, the truth about how little his mother loves him and his dubious parentage take the movie down a real depressingly dark side road we really didn't need. At this point we just want to vomit along with Bobby, and the ending has little uplift to our depressed hearts.This movie could have been so much more, the Scottish version of 'Hot Fuzz' for example. But instead of going for the laughs, like a true Glasgow bully, it smashed the beer bottle and came at us to give us a 'Glasgow Grin'. Gutted after watching this. Gutted.

It's almost hard to believe how good the story is. The trailer already tells it's going to be a very interesting crime comedy, but at least for me the trailer didn't exactly give a clear picture of the story., and it turned out to be a lot different from what I expected. The film is filled with many exciting twists and turns that keep the viewer on their toes. The dialogue is also amazingly funny, and a clear sign of amazing writing.There's just something especially detailed about this movie. It looks and sounds like every part was so carefully planned. Of course that's the case with most movies, but in some movies with casual, uninteresting cinematography it's not as visible. The cinematography in this film by Fabian Wagner reminds me of Wes Anderson's movies, and Filth (2013). I especially loved the beginning, and how the music created such a calm, chill atmosphere, which was then wonderfully conflicting with what was going on with the murderer. The Legend of Barney Thomson is extremely skillfully made movie, with hilarious yet intriguing story. The most important thing to remember though is to be prepared with subtitles, if you have trouble understanding people from Glasgow.

The Legend Of Barney Thomson has quite the eclectic cast, and whilst watching it, it gives the false security that you are actually enjoying the grotesque, Sweeney Todd like feel the film has to it.And then you finish watching it and begin to spot the flaws which the film has.From a directorial point of view, Carlyle does quite a good job directing this left-field piece. Normally, actors with whom have played gritty characters in the past, usually go for a more depressing hard hitting film for their debut, like Nil By Mouth, Tyrannosaur, or The War Zone, not a bizarre crime comedy with some very colourful characters.if you are a fan of Carlyle, he's as good as he ever is, fleshing out the titular character and giving him all manner of ticks and traits that hinder his quest to keep things under wraps.and this could be the fundamental flaw as to why the rest of the film doesn't really work, he was probably too focused on his own motivation than to pep up the other members of the cast.Winstone does his best grumpy copper role, and for the first few minutes of the film, it's quite amusing, until you realise that he does nothing more than utter xenophobic sentences, and is generally abhorrent toward everyone in the film.Emma Thompson fares a little better, her and Carlyle are wonderful when they are together, but really she is nothing more than your comedy boozy sweary mother, it's like Emma Thompson being in that poisonous drivel Mr's Browns Boys.The film does have some good ideas, and for the most part, it's a pretty decent film, with some original elements, and some very strange characters.it's just the fact that some of the main characters are just too clichéd for their own good, and ruin any sense of realism the film was getting from it's gritty setting.Worth seeing for Carlyle, and Winstone if you want to see him do another pointless shouty copper role.

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.