Elizabeth Sinclair Movies
Director Gavin Miller adapts Scottish author Iain Banks' novel about a troubled young man striving to unearth the secrets of his family past while simultaneously sleuthing to find out what fate really befell his long-missing uncle. Prentice McHoan (Joseph McFadden) is an emotionally confused and self-destructive boy from a family that seems particularly prone to premature death. He resents his father (Bill Paterson), is deeply jealous of his handsome and witty brother, and harbors a secret crush on his pretty cousin. Six years ago, Prentice's uncle Rory went missing without a trace. While some believe Rory is simply wandering, others -- such as Prentice's mother -- suspect that he has in fact died. Though Prentice at first views his father's atheistic apathy toward the situation as a hindrance, he gradually discovers that there may be some merit to the older and wiser man's mindset. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph McFadden, Bill Paterson, (more)
- 1984
- PG
Writer/director Bill Forsyth's follow-up to his best film, Local Hero, is another comic exploration of a man undergoing a personal crisis. In Local Hero, the American played by Peter Riegert finds himself enchanted by the people and ambience of a Scottish village he has been dispatched to purchase for an oil company. In Comfort and Joy, Alan (Bill Paterson) is a Glasgow radio disc jockey whose air name is the chirpy Dickey Bird. After Maddy, his girlfriend (Eleanor David), walks out on him at Christmas, he's spurred to re-evaluate his life. Looking for more meaningful work than spinning pop tunes and offering inane chatter to his geriatric listeners, Alan decides to make a radio documentary. He chances upon a local rivalry between two ice cream companies, who are sabotaging each other's trucks in an effort to monopolize the market. Attracted to Charlotte (C.P. Grogan), the daughter of one of the company owners, Alan finds himself playing peacemaker rather than documentarian. That this cold war takes place in the dead of a bitter Scottish winter is only one of Forsyth's many sly touches. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Paterson, Eleanor David, (more)
A righteous police officer investigating the disappearance of a young girl comes into conflict with the unusual residents of a secluded Scottish isle in this unsettling, intelligent chiller. Brought to the island of Summerisle by an anonymous letter, Edward Woodward's constable is surprised to discover that the island's population suspiciously denies the missing girl's very existence. Even more shocking, at least to the traditionally pious law office, the island is ruled by a libertarian society organized around pagan rituals. Repelled by the open acceptance of sexuality, nature worship, and even witchcraft, the officer takes an antagonistic attitude towards the people and their leader, an eccentric but charming English lord (Christopher Lee). The officer's unease intensifies as he continues his investigation, slowly coming to fear that the girl's disappearance may be linked in a particularly horrifying manner to an upcoming public festival. Anthony Shaffer's meticulously crafted screenplay creates a thoroughly convincing alternative society, building tension through slow discovery and indirect suggestion and making the terrifying climax all the more effective. Performances are also perfectly tuned, with Woodward suitably priggish as the investigator and horror icon Lee delivering one of his most accomplished performances as Lord Summerisle. Little noticed during its original theatrical run due to studio edits and a limited release, the film's intelligence and uncanny tone has since attracted a devoted cult following. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, (more)
