CALIFORNIA SCHEMIN’
(15) 101mins
★★★★☆
In California Schemin’ Gavin (Seamus McLean Ross) and Billy (Samuel Bottomley) are told their voices are incomprehensible by music execsCredit: PA
This astonishing true story is the directorial debut of actor James McAvoy, based on the book by Gavin BainCredit: PA
SHOWBIZ is a fickle world. If your face doesn’t fit, you can be out in the cold. But what happens if your accent doesn’t fit?
This is what two young, ambitious Scottish hip-hop artists — who call themselves Silibil N’ Brains — have to endure when they head to London to audition for a record label.
Gavin (Seamus McLean Ross) and Billy (Samuel Bottomley) are told their voices are incomprehensible by music execs and are even ridiculed as the “rapping Proclaimers”.
They are laughed out of their audition and catch the bus back to their dead-end call centre jobs in Dundee, where they are bullied by lads in the street.
Gavin decides that to acquire fame and fortune they need to not be Scottish, whereas Billy is in love with Mary (Lucy Halliday) and lacks some of his best pal’s musical ambitions.
The pair come up with a plan. If they could successfully pass themselves off as being from America, all would be well and they’d be .
And, unbelievably, they’re not far off. They are soon able to live their dream, netting a record contract and a penthouse, and playing to large crowds of fans.
But, quickly, fame and fortune create a familiar problem — it makes people terrible. And with the booze and too enticing, the best mates struggle to keep their friendship — and the lies — alive.
Their stressful decisions also affect likeable people who do nothing but support their dreams, like Billy’s girlfriend Mary and and their naive record manager, Tessa (Rebekah Murrell).
This astonishing true story is the directorial debut of actor , based on the book by Gavin Bain.
McAvoy, who also stars as an egomaniac record label boss, does a mighty fine job keeping the pace of this story going.
And he has clearly called on a favour in the form of a fun cameo by . The script is tight and the duo’s speedy trip into success is dealt with very nicely indeed.
The ending isn’t entirely satisfying, but it still has plenty of heart.
I’d highly recommend staying for the credits where real footage of Silibil N’ Brains’ terrible fake accents is played, making it even more mind-blowing how they ever got away with their American dream.
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FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER
(12A) 111mins
★★★☆☆
Father Mother Sister Brother is split into three storiesCredit: PA
“YOU can’t choose your family,” says Adam Driver to his sister (Mayim Bialik) on the long drive to see their eccentric father (Tom Waits) at the start of this gentle and thoughtful anthology.
Split into three separate stories, the first touches on long-standing resentments between a dad, who is living alone by a lake in New Jersey, and his two children.
When their dad only offers them a glass of tap water when they visit, the siblings hint at old annoyances and suspect he might be hiding money.
The second sees Charlotte Rampling host an annual get-together with her two daughters (Cate Blanchett and Vicky Krieps) at her home in .
Before their arrival, she confides in her therapist about how she wants to get it out of the way.
The third involves grief-stricken siblings (Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat) in Paris who are clearing out their dead parents’ apartment and trying to understand their mum and dad’s relationship and wishes for the future.
Director Jim Jarmusch gives this piece on family relationships plenty of breathing room, while the stellar cast keeps it sharp enough to make it pleasantly watchable.
THE STRANGER
(15) 122mins
★★★★☆
The Stranger, an adaptation of Albert Camus’s 1942 novella, is a chilling watchCredit: Supplied
PEOPLE who are impossible to read can be terrifying.
It is something that makes this adaptation of Albert Camus’s 1942 novella a chilling watch.
Set in French colonial Algeria in 1940, we meet Meursault (Benjamin Voisin), a settler awaiting trial for killing a man.
His lack of emotion as he lies on the floor is fascinating, but also very alarming. He’s nonplussed.
His indifference to his situation does not seem to be an act, but more a character trait. And through flashbacks we see how he got there.
Having found out his mother has died, he attends her home to sit with her body but shows zero emotion while other mourners weep.
And it continues when he meets a former girlfriend at the beach, who he then decides to date.
When she declares her love for him, he stares blankly at her. When she asks if they will ever marry, he states it is pointless.
Voisin’s portrayal of a man who embraces life as meaningless, so much so he takes the life of another in a senseless act, is terrific.
Director François Ozon has taken a truly tricky protagonist and made him a must-watch.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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