Glenrothan Film Review: Brian Cox's Heartfelt Highland Family Drama Falls Short of Expectations

GLENROTHAN

(12A) 97mins

★★☆☆☆

SCOTTISH people, eh? They spend their days sitting by lochs on tartan blankets, drinking hot toddies and playing the bagpipes after a breakfast of porridge oats, right?

According to ’s directorial debut, they do. Which makes me think he’s spent too much time in LA.

Glenrothan is Succession actor Brian Cox’s directorial debut Credit: PA

The Succession actor, whose native home is Dundee, has tried his hand at being both behind and in front of the camera in this bland tale of brothers with a bit of a grudge.

Estranged siblings Sandy (Cox) and Donal () grew up together in the family whisky distillery, but have chosen very different paths.

While Sandy stayed to take over his father’s business, Donal went to Chicago, US, to play jazz music, own a nightclub and write books.

The pair have not spoken to each other in over three decades after their vivacious mother, who kept the family together, died.

But Sandy wants to change that and writes to his brother about his ailing health, asking him to visit. So Donal begrudgingly does. But not before singing a duet with his daughter (Alexandra Shipp) on stage at his club. Expect more of this.

Going back home means reuniting with both Sandy and Jess (Shirley Henderson), his former best pal who he also abandoned.

She now works as the master distiller at the family business, which Sandy wants his younger, rebellious brother to take over.

We see flashbacks of the siblings when they were younger, with a supposedly horrific father. While the old man is not the nicest chap, he’s nowhere near villainous enough.

Alan Cumming as Donal and Shirley Henderson as Jess Credit: PA

One scene attempts to show his dreadful nature when he rejects a whisky blend a teenage Donal has “spent days on.” Big deal.

Cox is clearly trying to make a gentle, thoughtful film, but misses the mark.

Created by David Ashton and co-written with Jeff Murphy, it never gets under the skin of the story and there seems little depth to any character. Most are walking Scottish cliches, which, in 2026, feels excruciating.

And Cummings, with his distractingly curled eyelashes and West End-style singing, is a strange choice as the rebel without a cause.

It gets an extra star for plenty of stunning shots of the beautiful highlands which I can imagine Visit Scotland will appreciate.

But this is a whisky that’s far too watered down.

KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN

(15) 128mins

★★★☆☆

Jennifer Lopez’s singing and dancing scenes are hypnotic Credit: Alamy

THIS big-screen version of the award-winning musical is an interesting mix of colourful numbers and prison life.

It is based on Manuel Puig’s 1970s novel and set during a military regime in Argentina. Valentin (Diego Luna) is a political criminal and his new cellmate Luis (Tonatiuh), a flamboyant, gay window dresser jailed for public indecency.

The pair start a strange and often intense friendship that evolves around Luis re-enacting his favourite film, Kiss Of The Spider Woman, to his bemused roomie.

This makes the story bounce from a filthy, cramped cell to an all-singing, all-dancing world of Hollywood glamour with Jennifer Lopez as the lead, Aurora. The colour palette juxtaposition of the two worlds works and both stories are interesting in their own right.

But there’s perhaps too much going on, with themes of gender transformation, crime, unrequited love, political corruption and a spider woman who kills. It can make the leaps back and forth into the differing landscapes exhausting.

But Lopez’s singing and dancing scenes are hypnotic.

BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY 25th ANNIVERSARY

(15) 128 mins

★★★★☆

The first, and best, of the four films sees Bridget (Renee Zellweger) as a chardonnay-quaffing, chaotic singleton in London who is trying to navigate a career, friendships and romantic love Credit: Alamy

IT has been a quarter of a century since we saw s giant pants hurtle down a fireman’s pole towards the big screen.

And to mark that, the original is hitting cinemas nationwide.

In a climate where young women no longer care if they get a boyfriend or turn up to a party alone, is Helen Fielding’s character too dated for this re-release?

Well, yes, some of it feels a little dusty, especially Bridget’s obsession with weight and being left on the shelf at 32. Hey, that’s progress.

But I’m pleased to say our beloved Bridget is damn hilarious. The first, and best, of the four films sees Bridget () as a chardonnay-quaffing, chaotic singleton in London who is trying to navigate a career, friendships and romantic love.

The latter comes in the form of her caddish boss Daniel Cleaver (), who soon proves himself to be . . .  a cad. And soon Bridget is being protected by Mark Darcy (). You don’t have to be a Gen Xer to laugh out loud at the very British “fight” between the male leads.

Still a true cultural classic.