REVIEW: Sunshine on Leith (2013, Dir. Dexter Fletcher)

If you were to line up the recording artists most likely to receive the Mamma Mia jukebox (movie) musical treatment, I'm downright certain that Scottish brothers, Charlie and Craig Reid, a.k.a. The Proclaimers, wouldn't be topping too many lists. And yet, thanks to the vagaries of nationalism, 80's nostalgia, and film financing, we have been blessed with the brogue-belting goodness of Sunshine on Leith.

If you're up for it, this film version of the moderately successful stage show serves up easily digestible toe-tapping fare. Davy (George MacKay) and Ally (Kevin Guthrie), two young soldiers, return from Afghanistan to skip back into their lives in Edinburgh. Ally picks up where he left off with Davy's sister, Liz (Freya Mavor), while Davy is soon set up with Liz's English workmate, Yvonne (Antonia Thomas). The ever dependable Peter Mullan and Jane Horrocks, as Davy and Liz's doting parents, Rab and Jean, round out the trio of relationships that provide the surfeit of material malleable enough to allow writer Stephen Greenhorn to wedge in as broad a range of songs as possible (yes, The Proclaimers had more than two).

Anyone familiar with these cobbled-together musical generation exercises won't be expecting much in the way of incisive drama. Greenhorn's screenplay lives down to expectations. The narrative here is really only a glue to hold the songs together, or in this case we should probably say goo. Sunshine on Leith isn't high art on either the movie or the musical front (the blocking of some of the numbers is actually rather atrocious) but director Dexter Fletcher (of 'Press Gang' fame) rallies has cast and puts out a film that is super likeable. Everyone commits to the material wholeheartedly and their exuberance pays dividends. Mackay, who's charismatic turn here is a world away from his menacing presence in For Those in Peril, makes for a solid lead and he almost single-handedly helps to maintain interest when the novelty begins to wear thin.

And wear it does. As the drama attempts to shift into more meaningful territory, Sunshine on Leith begins to lose a touch of its lightness. Mullan and Horrocks do their best to keep the film pushing forward but the kitchen sink drama isn't nearly compelling enough. If I were to be a little unfair, I'd say the only drive the film has as it nears its conclusion is the expectation that they'll be dropping the big one at any moment. And, like the the most obvious, no-brainer encore at a rock concert, the team bring it home with hand-waving, feet-stamping aplomb.

If, like me, you love movie musicals, you'll happily bask in the corny warmth of Sunshine on Leith. It's a pleasure, even if it's fated to be a guilty one. If, like most, you're allergic to musicals, make absolutely no mistake, Sunshine on Leith will give you hives and they'll itch you to the end of days.

★★★

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