''Scottish Mussel'' is a 2015 comedy film, written, directed and produced by

Talulah Riley Talulah Jane Riley-Milburn''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005''; Ancestry.com. Retrieved 3 November 2015. (born 26 September 1985) is an English actress and writer. She has appeared in films, including ''Pride & Pre ...

that revolves around the life of a

Glaswegian The Glasgow dialect, popularly known as the Glasgow patter or Glaswegian, varies from Scottish English at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum to the local dialect of West Central Scots at the other. Therefore, the speech of many Glaswegian ...

criminal, Ritchie ( Martin Compston), who becomes interested in poaching freshwater pearl mussels from rivers in the Highlands of Scotland. During the course of his criminal enterprise, he falls in love with Beth, played by Riley, who is a conservationist from England. The closing title song, which does not appear on the film soundtrack is called "So Beautiful" by Leeds based band

The Dunwells The Dunwells are an English rock band, formed in Leeds in 2009. The group consists of brothers Joseph Dunwell (vocals) and David Dunwell (guitar, vocals), along with friends Adam Taylor (drums, vocals) and Rob Clayton (bass, vocals). The band ...

Synopsis

Beth is an upper-class conservationist who is in Scotland to protect the freshwater pearl mussel from poachers who prise open the mussels and kill them for the pearls inside. Ritchie falls in love with Beth when he sees her emerging from a river in a bikini. Thereafter, he finds it harder to engage in illegal pearl poaching and slowly starts to learn all the wildlife in the area to get closer to Beth. Against this, they must fight off Glaswegian criminals and Ukrainian gangsters.

Cast

* Martin Compston as Ritchie *

as Beth *

Morgan Watkins Morgan Watkins is a British film, television and stage actor from Camden, London. Background Watkins trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 2009. He lives in London with his girlfriend and baby son. Career Watkins played No ...

as Ethan * Joe Thomas as Danny *

Paul Brannigan Paul Brannigan (born 14 September 1986) is a Scottish actor best known for his roles as Gareth O'Connor in Scottish soap opera ''River City'' and as Robbie in the film ''The Angels' Share'' (2012). Brannigan also appeared in the 2013 movie '' U ...

as Fraser * Emun Elliott as Leon * James Dreyfus as the headmaster * Rachael Stirling as Miss Pringle * Marianna Palka as Fiona *

Camille Coduri Camille Coduri (born 18 April 1965) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Jackie Tyler, the mother of Rose Tyler, in ''Doctor Who'', and also for her roles as Faith in ''Nuns on the Run'', Miranda in ''King Ralph'', and Dot Clapton ...

as Aunt Nettie * Stephen O'Donnell as Gavin *Neil Greig Fulton as Murray *

Ryan Gage Ryan Gage (born 17 January 1983) is an English actor who has worked in theatre, television, films, and video games. On television, he is best known for his roles as King Louis XIII in the BBC series ''The Musketeers'' and Ted Bundy in the TV f ...

as Ramsey * Rufus Hound as PC Dougie * Russell Kane as Sinclair * Harry Enfield as Bill

Production

The film is set in the Scottish Highlands region, but most of the production was filmed in and around

Dunoon Dunoon (; gd, Dùn Omhain) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well ...

, in

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

, with some scenes filmed in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Critical reception

Almost all reviews were negative about the film; James Luxford, writing in the

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

said: "All the jokes miss the mark as well even though, surrounding the couple, are familiar faces in comedy including Harry Enfield and Russell Kane. Mostly, the supporting cast do horrendous accents and contribute little to the plot. Listless from start to end, there is nothing to be salvaged from this dreadful Highland fling." Similarly, David Kettle said: "What Riley seems to be aiming for is a Pride- or even Brassed Off-style feelgood UK romcom-with-a-message. But with its broad, scattergun humour, lazy characterisation and inept plot and dialogue (not to mention its patronising, metropolitan view of "wild" Scotland), Scottish Mussel should have stayed firmly locked in its shell." Robert Peacock, writing for the Wee Review, said: "Cliché-heavy conservationist comedy seeks to emulate feel good British films of yesteryear. Fails."

References

External links