''The Legend of Barney Thomson'', known in the United States as ''Barney Thomson'', is a 2015 British
comedy thriller
Comedy thrillers are a hybrid genre that draw subject matter generally from comedy and thrillers.
Criteria
They often include a darker tone, relative to other genres, of humor.
List of comedy thriller films
* '' The Big Fix'' (1978)
* ''Charad ...
film based on the 1999 novel ''The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson'' by Douglas Lindsay. It is the
directorial debut
This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...
of
Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle (born 14 April 1961) is a Scottish actor. His film work includes '' Trainspotting'' (1996), ''The Full Monty'' (1997), ''The World Is Not Enough'' (1999), ''Angela's Ashes'' (1999), '' The Beach'' (2000), ''28 Weeks Later'' (20 ...
, who also stars in the film, alongside
Emma Thompson
Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...
,
Ray Winstone
Raymond Andrew Winstone (; born 19 February 1957) is an English television, stage and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is perha ...
,
Ashley Jensen
Ashley Jensen (born 11 August 1969) is a Scottish actress and narrator. She was nominated for an Emmy for her role on the television series '' Extras'', in which she appeared from 2005 to 2007. She was a cast member of the ABC series ''Ugly Be ...
and
Brian Pettifer Brian Pettifer (born 1953) is a British actor who has appeared in many television shows, and also on stage and in film. He is the younger brother of folk musician Linda Thompson.
Biography
He intended to become a photographer, but pursued a career ...
. It was previewed at the 2015 Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2015 before its release on 24 July 2015. The film also won the BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Feature Film.
Plot
Set 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 ...
, the film centres around 50-year-old Barney Thomson, who works at Henderson's Barbers in
Bridgeton and lives a life of desperate mediocrity. Barney's uninteresting life is turned upside down when he enters the grotesque and comically absurd world of a serial killer after accidentally killing his boss Wullie.
The film starts with Thomson, who lives a dull life as a Glasgow barber for 20 years, looked over by the owner James' son, the manager Wullie. Detective Inspector Holdall, meanwhile, is inspecting a string of body parts mailed across the city; due to a lack of progress, the case is handed over to D.I. June Robertson.
Wullie prepares to fire Thomson due to his pessimistic outbursts affecting business; after work one day, Thomson desperately pleads with Wullie, resulting in a struggle that causes him to accidentally stab him in the chest with a small set of scissors. A panicked Thomson bags the corpse and puts it in his car, which is witnessed by his friend Charlie.
Holdall begins questioning and following Thomson, who denies any knowledge of Wullie's habits or whereabouts. Resorting to his mother Cemolina for help, Thomson hides the body at her place, and is later horrified to discover that she chopped it up, shrink wrapped and labeled the parts, and kept them in the freezer. When a slip of the tongue by Charlie causes Thomson's younger coworker Chris Porter to suspect him, Thomson quietly confesses it an accident. When Chris attempts to attack him, a frightened Thomson strikes him in the chest with a mop, inadvertently killing him. Wrapping him up, he brings him to Cemolina's apartment; however, when he removes Wullie's remains from the freezer, he notices an extra hand inside of it, along with a notebook with addresses to various places that the killer's body parts have been mailed; along with that, he finds out that his mother has been prostituting herself for younger men.
Meanwhile, later, Thomson breaks into Chris' apartment to place Wullie's remains and frame him, but is foiled when he finds that his freezer is too small to hold the body; when Holdall and his partner investigate, Thomson leaves the parts behind as he flees. Confronting his mother, he realizes that she's the killer, and that she killed and mailed off her dates. After revealing that his father left, but not far and never contacted him, she strains herself as she cruelly mocks Thomson before dying of a heart attack (or possibly a stroke).
After Cemolina's services, Thomson dumps Chris' body in Loch Lubnaig, and he angrily strangles Charlie when he suspects that he knows about Chris, though ashamedly leaves.
The next day, James makes Thomson head barber, but he's called into the middle of the woods. There, both police duos confront each other, and in a rival shootout, they're all killed. Though Holdall accuses him, Thomson reveals the real circumstances, though Holdall dies before hearing it all.
With his name cleared, Thomson is satisfied as he becomes a local legend for being the only survivor.
Cast
*
Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle (born 14 April 1961) is a Scottish actor. His film work includes '' Trainspotting'' (1996), ''The Full Monty'' (1997), ''The World Is Not Enough'' (1999), ''Angela's Ashes'' (1999), '' The Beach'' (2000), ''28 Weeks Later'' (20 ...
as Barney Thomson
*
Emma Thompson
Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...
as Cemolina, Barney's mother
*
Ray Winstone
Raymond Andrew Winstone (; born 19 February 1957) is an English television, stage and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is perha ...
as Detective Inspector Holdall
*
Ashley Jensen
Ashley Jensen (born 11 August 1969) is a Scottish actress and narrator. She was nominated for an Emmy for her role on the television series '' Extras'', in which she appeared from 2005 to 2007. She was a cast member of the ABC series ''Ugly Be ...
as Detective Inspector June Robertson
*
Martin Compston
Martin Compston (born 8 May 1984) is a Scottish actor and former Association Football, professional footballer. He played Anti-Corruption Unit Detective Inspector Steve Arnott in the BBC drama ''Line of Duty'', Liam in Ken Loach, Ken Loach's '' ...
as Chris Porter, barber
*
Kevin Guthrie
Kevin Guthrie (born 21 March 1988) was a Scottish actor. His best known roles are Ally in '' Sunshine on Leith'' (2013), Ewan Tavendale in Terence Davies's '' Sunset Song'' (2015), and Abernathy in the first 2 Fantastic Beast films - ''Fantas ...
as Detective Sergeant MacPherson
*
Sam Robertson
Samuel Robertson is a Scottish actor and model. He portrays Adam Barlow in the ITV soap opera, ''Coronation Street''; and Flynn in the E4 comedy-drama series, ''Beaver Falls''.
Background
Robertson was born in Dundee, Scotland. He studied ...
as Detective Sergeant Sam Jobson
*
Brian Pettifer Brian Pettifer (born 1953) is a British actor who has appeared in many television shows, and also on stage and in film. He is the younger brother of folk musician Linda Thompson.
Biography
He intended to become a photographer, but pursued a career ...
as Charlie, Barney's friend
*
Stephen McCole
Stephen McCole is a Scottish actor. He is best known for starring in the dark comedy series ''High Times'',Paul English"High Times duo Stephen and Paul McCole find fame in unlikely places" '' The Daily Record'', 28 June 2008. Retrieved 1 June 20 ...
as Wullie Henderson, Barney's boss
*
Eileen McCallum
Eileen McCallum, MBE (born 2 December 1936) is a Scottish actress who is best known for playing the part of shopkeeper Isabel Blair through the complete run of soap opera ''Take the High Road'' from 1980 to 2003, and as Liz Hamilton from 2005 t ...
as Mrs. Gaffney
*
James Cosmo
James Ronald Gordon Copeland , known professionally as James Cosmo (b. 1947), is a Scottish film and television actor known for his appearances in films including '' Highlander'', ''Braveheart'', ''Trainspotting'', ''Jagame Thandhiram'', ''Tro ...
as James Henderson, Wullie's father and the owner of Henderson's Barbers
*
Barbara Rafferty
Barbara Rafferty (born 15 January 1950 in Clydebank), is a Scottish actress. Credited as Barbara Ann Brown in her early acting career. She is known for her roles as Ella Cotter in the long-running BBC Two sitcom ''Rab C Nesbitt'', then firstly ...
as Jean Monkrieff
*
Tom Courtenay
Sir Thomas Daniel Courtenay (; born 25 February 1937) is an English actor. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Courtenay achieved prominence in the 1960s with a series of acclaimed film roles, including ''The Loneliness of t ...
as Chief Superintendent McManaman
Reception
The
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reports a 61% proportion of positive reviews, based on 33 reviews and a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score of 5.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''The Legend of Barney Thomson'' may not quite live up to its grandiose title, but it offers a fine calling card for debuting director Carlyle, and Emma Thompson's performance adds a spark." At the review aggregator
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 9 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Writing for ''
The List'', Eddie Harrison gave the film 2/5 and commented that the film's "brand of gallows humour feels woefully dated; it’s such a shame that Carlyle’s poor selection of script has rendered his first attempt to direct as dead on arrival." He also criticised the film's ending as being "delivered on the indulgent level of a student film." David Jenkins, writing for ''
Little White Lies'', gave the film a negative review, concluding it as "Awful, anachronistic material delivered with a total paucity of charm."
References
External links
Official websiteon
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
Official websiteon
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
*
''The Legend of Barney Thomson''at
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon.
History
Brandon Gray began ...
*
*
* (rating 3/5)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legend of Barney Thomson, The
2015 films
2010s crime comedy films
British comedy thriller films
Scottish comedy films
Scottish thriller films
2010s comedy thriller films
Films based on British novels
British serial killer films
Films set in Glasgow
Films shot in Glasgow
2015 directorial debut films
2015 comedy films
English-language Scottish films
English-language Canadian films
2010s English-language films
2010s British films