The Fall Of Sir Douglas Weatherford film review: An off-kilter curio
A comedy drama that is as eccentric as its main character, this Bill Forsyth-esque piece set in a fictional village is a pleasant trip
An ill-at-ease tale of ancestors and modernity, Seán Dunn’s quirky comedy drama boasts a grab bag of good ideas, but a shaggy structure that never really harnesses them. The plot has Peter Mullan starring as cranky widower Kenneth McKay, a tour guide in the fictional Scottish village of Arberloch, the very same locale that once housed Kenneth’s own distant relative, Sir Douglas Weatherford; an 18th century landowner and philosopher, his very existence still draws in tourists.
Kenneth, who dresses up as Sir Douglas to entertain tourists, sees his life upended when a Game Of Thrones-esque TV fantasy (The White Stag Of Emberfell) comes to shoot in Arberloch. Before you can say ‘winter is coming’, the tourist centre where Kenneth works has ditched the ever-present Sir Douglas exhibit in favour of promoting the show. In response, the quixotic guide tries to mount a documentary about his ancestor, even trying to rope in The White Stag Of Emberfell’s star Oscar Sorenson (Jakob Oftebro).
With other elements in play (not least the ghost of Sir Douglas haunting the area) the off-kilter script nods to the work of filmmaker Bill Forsyth, that great observer of Scottish life. But the elements never fuse together into anything meaningful. Mullan is a fabulous actor – just this past year, he’s memorably appeared in Bafta favourite I Swear and TV drama Steal (as an unctuous tycoon). But comedy isn’t his forte, and he seems adrift at times in a story that, for all its pleasantries, relies on its eccentricities to entertain.
The Fall Of Sir Douglas Weatherford is in cinemas from Friday 12 June.