The Legend of Barney Thomson (2015)

Directed by: Robert Carlyle

Based on a novel Long Midnight of Barney Thomson by: Douglas Lindsay

Written by: Richard Cowan & Colin McLaren

Awkward, diffident Glasgow barber Barney Thomson lives his life in the most boring, mediocre way possible, until he accidentally enters the macabre and absurd life of a serial killer.

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I found this movie accidentally when looking through Robert Carlyle's filmography. I don't know if I would've paid as much attention to it, if I hadn't noticed it was also directed by Carlyle, who is currently taking his place as one of my favourite actors. I ended up watching the trailer and this movie seemed absolutely hilarious. It reminded me of Filth (2013) directed by Jon S. Baird. If you didn't know this already, I highly value Filth, and it had a great effect on my taste on movies - and novels, since it's the first novel by Irvine Welsh that I read. 

Also I was curious, because I hadn't seen a movie taking place in Glasgow before. I don't know much about Glasgow, apart from two things that I learned from my friends. 1) No one understands the Glasgow accent, except for people in there. This was told to me by my friend Danny and I had to agree, because I only need subtitles for Robert Carlyle when watching Trainspotting. 2) My friend Annie told me she has never met a person from Glasgow who was happy.

So because of the resemblance, and because of Scotland and Robert Carlyle, I decided to watch The Legend of Barney Thomson. 

It's almost hard to believe how good the story is. The trailer already tells it's going to be a very interesting crime comedy, but at least for me the trailer didn't exactly give a clear picture of the story., and it turned out to be a lot different from what I expected. The film is filled with many exciting twists and turns that keep the viewer on their toes. The dialogue is also amazingly funny, and a clear sign of amazing writing.

There's just something especially detailed about this movie. It looks and sounds like every part was so carefully planned. Of course that's the case with most movies, but in some movies with casual, uninteresting cinematography it's not as visible. The cinematography in this film by Fabian Wagner reminds me of Wes Anderson's movies, and Filth (2013). 

I especially loved the beginning, and how the music created such a calm, chill atmosphere, which was then wonderfully conflicting with what was going on with the murderer. 

The Legend of Barney Thomson is extremely skillfully made movie, with hilarious yet intriguing story. The most important thing to remember though is to be prepared with subtitles, if you have trouble understanding people from Glasgow.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

9 / 10