Sunshine on Leith (2013)

Mark Kermode doesn't always get it right. He heaped praise on this and quite frankly, it's awful. Now granted I'm not one for musicals, but I can be persuaded, you can't knock a bit of West Side Story and the Belle and Sebastian scored God Help The Girl a few years back was fantastic. It took me three sittings to grind through this schmalzy crap though. The songs are annoying, the characters are annoying, the story largely uneventful, to the point that take the songs out of this and there'd be little left. I hoped that this would redeem Edinburgh on the movie map after the disappointment of Trainspotting 2. It does not. Choose... something else.

You know the expression "white people can't dance" – well at least not since Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. This film is definite proof of that. Dancing is not waving your hands in the air. All the dance scenes look the same – similar to a you-tube flash-mob. Choreography not required.And the singing is worse.Aside from a few comic scenes during the dance hall – this is cloying and predictable – and Boring (capital "B" intended). The characters are un-engaging. It looked at times like a Scottish tourist brochure.Overall this approaches the banal. A musical must have a sense of vitality and an energy force - this was sadly lacking.

Well Mamma Mia was Abba songs put to music mixed in with a storyline set in a romantic Greek island.Sunshine on Leith is songs by The Proclaimers with a story involving two squaddies who have served in Afghanistan. One of their mates has been injured in a roadside bombing and they have left the army and returned to their family and an uncertain future or more accurately a job in a call centre.I thought at first if there would be enough catchy songs here given that like most people in Britain over the age of 40 we would only be familiar with two of the songs by The Proclaimers that were hits back in 1986.However this low budget musical acquits itself well. It is rather cheesy, many of the songs are good enough which rather suggests that The Proclaimers deserve to be better known for their other songs.The actors even Peter Mullan put in a lot of gusto in the song and dance numbers, although I think Jane Horrocks looked too young to be his wife.It is a slight story involving tangled romances and ghosts of the past. I did think the bittersweet romantic story of the two soldiers did not really work for me. I liked the rousing finishing song and dance number and although there are some nice scenes set in Edinburgh, I would had to have seen more of Leith itself.

I'd like to find something negative to write about this film but the truth is that from those dramatic opening moments of the atmospheric crescendo that is Sky Takes the Soul, you just know that this is going to be a good movie.Scratch that, it's going to be great movie!Now I have to declare a vested interest here in being an ex-pat Scot, however being a Glaswegian watching a movie set in Edinburgh you have to go a long way to impress me, but if I say - and if you quote me I'll deny it - that even I found myself falling in love with the majesty of Auld Reekie, then it certainly is impressive. As a vehicle for the Scottish tourism industry this is a great advert, from the Edinburgh Acropolis, to the castle itself, to the beautiful views of the water of the Firth of Forth to Princes Park and to night time shots of the illuminated Athens of the North, this is the Scottish Capital at its majestic best. After 19 years abroad, I finally found something to make me homesick.And at heart, that is what Sunshine on Leith really is, a love story set to the euphoric lyrical poetry of The Proclaimers, full of the joys and pains of life. Centring on the return home of two Scottish soldiers, best pals, from the war in Afghanistan, Sunshine on Leith deals with their challenges in making new lives and loves, its about their families, the challenges of growing older and maintaining excitement in life or at the younger spectrum, of deciding on who you are, who you want to be and finding out that the grass is not always greener but that often you have to find that out for yourself.For most people, there are two alternating states you will find yourself in at all times while watching this movie - laughing or crying. There is very little in between as you accompany Davy (George MacKay) and Ally (Kevin Guthrie) on their return home and the varying highs and lows of day to day life out of the rigid routine of the army, all of which is out of their control.The musical score defies you not to get up in the middle of the theatre and sing or clap along, such is the power of The Proclaimers' catchy tunes and clever insightful lyrics that capture the fears of young and unknown love, the blossoming joys of new relationships, the hurts of rejection and breaking hearts, the challenges of dealing with life in general and so much more. If you're not a fan of The Proclaimers going in, you will be when you come out. It's challenging to remember that the movie was written to the music and not the other way around as the two dovetail so well together.What makes it even harder to resist the toe tapping and humming, the laughing and the crying is that throughout the movie you are left with the sense that the actors themselves were having a great time making it, such is their own passion coming through in their roles. There are no big names to sell this movie as we've seen in other recent big budget musicals, just good solid acting, and perhaps it is the absence of any big names and egos helps along the chemistry on screen between the characters (not all of whom are Scottish it must be pointed out, not that one would know from their excellent accents).There are some great dance scenes throughout and watching Scotsmen dancing away with pint glasses in hand is a real representation of the local life and knowing that makes it all the more fun to watch. Resist if you can, the spirited rendition of "Over and Done With" or the mocking fun of the boys singing "Let's Get Married" in the middle of the pub while watching the football, let alone the progressive dancing through the National Art Gallery to the accompanying "Should Have Been Loved".There are some great moments throughout the movie that if unprepared for can be missed so brush up on what Charlie and Craig Reid (the twin brothers who are The Proclaimers) look like now, otherwise you may miss their cameo appearance early on in the movie which is funny indeed. Tribute is paid of course to Hibs, the Reid brothers' favourite football team and Leith local side. There are the in-jokes of the Scots between the civilised east of Edinburgh and the wild wests of Glasgow, just as much as there are the jibes about the Scottish rivalries with the English and England in general.Stand out moments must include the spectacular backdrop view from the windows while protagonists Davy and love interest Yvonne ardently sing the heartfelt "Then I Met You" quite literally at each other. Equally so, it is moving to finally see "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" returned to it's rightful place as an eloquent love song rather than a novelty of oh so many Friday night pub scenes and karaoke bars. And watch out for the charms of "wee" John Spence playing Ally's young nephew "Brendan" who steals the spotlight in his few scenes with his cheek and charms.Sunshine on Leith is the feel good movie you will want, nay "need" to see over and over again and each and every time you will laugh and cry just as much as the first time!