Sunshine On Leith
Starring: Peter Mullan, Jane Horrocks, George MacKay
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Rating: 4.5/5
Dexter Fletcher has returned to the director’s chair for his second feature film Sunshine On Leith; a movie that sees him tackle the musical for the very first time.
Sunshine On Leith is a big screen adaptation of the hit stage show and is couldn’t be more different from Fletcher’s directorial debut, gritty drama Wild Bill.
Sunshine On Leith shows what a versatile filmmaking Fletcher is destined to be - as well as a film that will leave you with a huge smile on your face.
Sunshine on Leith is a jubilant, heartfelt musical about the power of home, the hearth, family and love. It is the tale of one tight-knit family, and the three couples bound to it, as they experience the joys and heartache that punctuate all relationships.
Sunshine On Leith promised to be one of the more uplifting films of the year; and it really is exactly that. Only someone with a heart of stone could fail to be swept along in this story of family and love.
This is a movie that is warm, charming, wears its heart on its sleeve and has some great performances at the core. Peter Mullan and Jane Horrocks are simply fantastic as Rab and Jean; a couple who have been married twenty five years but who are facing a crisis in their relationship.
We all know that Horrocks has a fantastic singing voice, something which is one show again here, but she really delivers the emotional moments. She has two of the most heart-breaking solos and she really show that she is a woman in great pain - she is simply fantastic in these moments.
This is not the sort of role that we are use to seeing Mullan take on, but it is fantastic that he has jumped into this movie and showed a very different side to himself as an actor.
Horrocks and Mullan make a great central team and an anchor for all of the other main characters in the story.
The younger cast are also fantastic as George MacKay and Kevin Guthrie give two terrific performances as soldiers who are trying to find their way in the world now that they are back home.
MacKay is a British actor that we really should be keeping an eye on over the next couple of years, and he really gives a very assured performance as Davy.
Sunshine On Leith is also packed with some terrific and uplifting music as the re-imagined songs from The Proclaimers really will put a smile on your face - did you spot the singers at the beginning of the film?
Fletcher really is becoming a wonderful filmmaker as he finds the right balance between character development and musical spectacle; there are some very funny music moments throughout the film.
Tackling a musical is perhaps not the obvious move after the success of Wild Bill, but Fletcher has jumped feet first with this project and really delivered a fantastic and feel-good film.
Sunshine On Leith is a movie that is just the right mix of melancholy, heartbreak, love and hope and you really will leave the cinema with a huge smile on your face. This is absolutely not to be missed.
Sunshine On Leith is out now
Tagged in Dexter Fletcher