Synopsis
Barney Thomson, awkward, diffident, Glasgow barber, lives a life of desperate mediocrity and his uninteresting life is about to go from 0 to 60 in five seconds, as he enters the grotesque and comically absurd world of the serial killer.
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Cast
- Robert CarlyleBarney
- Emma ThompsonCemolina
- Ray WinstoneHoldall
- Ashley JensenDetective Inspector June Robertson
- James CosmoJames Henderson
- Tom CourtenayChief Superintendent McManaman
- Kevin GuthrieMacPherson
- Martin CompstonChris
- Stephen McColeWullie
- Samuel RobertsonDetective Sergeant Sam Jobson
Recommendations
- 83
Entertainment Weekly
Ultimately, Barney Thomson’s roots are exposed too easily, and the question of “where’d they get that from?” often trumps our curiosity of where the film at hand is going, and that’s a problem. - 80
The Telegraph
Carlyle shoots the story with a propulsive, page-turning energy that’s enjoyably at odds with the Glasgow backdrop, which is dilapidated to the point of timelessness. - 60
Empire
Merrily gruesome black comedy. - 60
The Guardian
Emma Thompson gives us a scene-stealing performance which is enjoyably macabre. - 60
Time Out London
There are more than a few false notes here.... Still, the sight of Emma Thompson, wearing old-lady prosthetics and a leopard skin coat as Barney’s mum...is not to be missed. - 60
Variety
Thompson elevates and enervates every scene she’s in. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
While the casting of Thompson, just two years Carlyle's senior is a gamble that could easily have seemed gimmicky, the half-Scottish Oscar-winner is a riot as the grotesque Cemolina, a raucously broad-accented, chain-smoking schemer resplendent in faux-ocelot - 50
Los Angeles Times
Despite the fertile concept, it's hard to care about, much less root for, the irritable, charisma-challenged Barney. The character never emerges as an effective hero or antihero, and performer Carlyle does little to mitigate that.
