Reviews by Robert Munro

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  The Son's Room (2001)

  Review preview for The Son's Room

  A quietly devastating but surprisingly life-affirming film, brilliantly written, wonderfully acted and full of simple beauty.

  A family grives over the loss of their son in a freak diving accident.
• 
  Aprile (1998)

  Review preview for Aprile

  This is a caricature, and often a very funny one, but equally Moretti is simply irritating to watch and listen to for much of the film.

  A documentary that is more about the documentary-maker than its subject.
• 
  Limbo (2020)

  Review preview for Limbo

  A film brimming with freshness in its ideas and their execution.

  Omar is a promising young musician. Separated from his Syrian family, he is stuck on a remote Scottish island awaiting the fate of his asylum request. Due to the plaster-cast on his arm, he cannot play his oud and instead wanders the epic landscapes searching for answers to a complex past and daunting future.
• 
  Pale Star (2016)

  Review preview for Pale Star

  A thrillingly cinematic film.

  An abusive relationship forms the backdrop for this Nordic noir.
• 
  Forsaken (2015)

  Review preview for Forsaken

  The film is enjoyable enough, but unfortunately Kiefer Sutherland is not Alan Ladd.

  A disillusioned former gunslinger tries to reconcile with his father but finds their frontier town terrorised by a brutal gang.
• 
  Moon Dogs (2016)

  Review preview for Moon Dogs

  A really enjoyable piece of Celtic cinema.

  Two teenage step-brothers head on a road trip across Scotland.
• 
  Maggie's Plan (2015)

  Review preview for Maggie's Plan

  Director Rebecca Miller gets terrific performances out of an admittedly terrific cast.

  A young woman’s determination to have a child catapults her into a nervy love triangle.
• 
  Tommy's Honour (2016)

  Review preview for Tommy's Honour

  The film rattles along at a fair pace, peppered with gentle warmth and good humour.

  Story about the father and son relationship between the founders of the modern game of golf.
• 
  Macbeth Unhinged (2016)

  Review preview for Macbeth Unhinged

  The film is strongest when it is being visually and aurally adventurous.

  Modern interpretation of the tragedy, set within the confines of a stretch limousine.
• 
  The Third Man (1949)

  Review preview for The Third Man

  Lime is one of the cinema’s greatest baddies.

  A man searching for his missing friend in post-war Vienna uncovers a ruthless conspiracy.
• 
  Cop Car (2015)

  Review preview for Cop Car

  This is a tense and enjoyable genre picture, and one which gets terrific central performances from all involved.

  Two 10-year-old boys steal an abandoned police car.
• 
  Iona (2015)

  Review preview for Iona

  Director Graham is fantastic at allowing the underlying relational strain to simmer for most of the film, in quiet, unspoken Scots Calvinist passive-aggression.

  A woman and her teenage son return to the place she was born to seek refuge from a violent gang.
• 
  Maggie (2015)

  Review preview for Maggie

  The pleasantly surprising performance of Schwarzenegger grounds the film with an emotional heft.

  A father struggles to do the right thing by his daughter, who is gradually turning into a zombie.
• 
  Swung (2015)

  Review preview for Swung

  Anya's performance as Alice does enough to keep the film interesting throughout.

  A relationship is taken to its emotional and sexual limits.
• 
  The Legend Of Barney Thomson (2015)

  Review preview for The Legend Of Barney Thomson

  Robert Carlyle's directorial debut adapts Douglas Lindsay's novel detailing the life and crimes of Barney Thomson with real panache and wit.

  A Glasgow barber accidentally turns killer.
• 
  She's Funny That Way (2014)

  Review preview for She's Funny That Way

  The cast are terrific, and the comic set pieces are handled with precision and impeccable timing, even if not all of the jokes hit home.

  A married director falls for a prostitute-turned-actress.
• 
  Amy (2015)

  Review preview for Amy

  An intensely sad and affecting look at a hugely talented young woman, ill equipped for the all-consuming fame which her soulful voice would bring her.

  A documentary about Amy Winehouse.
• 
  A Fuller Life (2013)

  Review preview for A Fuller Life

  Any greater insight into the life of Fuller is most welcome.

  Tribute to maverick American filmmaker Samuel Fuller.
• 
  September (2013)

  Review preview for September

  The performances of Kora Karvouni as Anna and Maria Skoula as Sophia are captivating.

  Anna, a taciturn 30-something, lives in a small flat with her dog Manu, who means everything to her. After a distressing incident which disrupts her life, Anna attaches herself to the family of Sofia, a happily married woman and mother of two children.
• 
  Hellion (2014)

  Review preview for Hellion

  Chandler's excellent script allows the raw drama to take centre stage.

  An alcoholic father struggles to keep his adolescent son out of jail and give him a better life.
• 
  The Guvnors (2014)

  Review preview for The Guvnors

  It's all a little bit familiar, with the characters seemingly straight out of Green Street or Football Factory.

  A young gangster tries to challenge the football hooligans of the generation before him.
• 
  Beloved Sisters (2014)

  Review preview for Beloved Sisters

  The film is 170 minutes long and, if anything it feels like it should have been longer.

  Two sisters both fall for the same man - poet Friedrich Schiller.
• 
  A Dangerous Game (2014)

  Review preview for A Dangerous Game

  An often searing indictment of the abuse of power that a privileged elite feel is their right.

  The follow-up to the award-winning You’ve Been Trumped, exploring American property developer Donald Trump’s incursion into Scotland.
• 
  The Anomaly (2014)

  Review preview for The Anomaly

  Strikingly lacking in originality or sense of fun.

  A former soldier is taken captive and awakens in the back of a van to learn he only has a few moments to figure out how he got there.
• 
  We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (2013)

  Review preview for We Gotta Get Out Of This Place

  The young cast all excel in roles which require the utmost duplicity

  Three Texas teenager get embroiled in the world of a local gangster.
• 
  A House In Berlin (2014)

  Review preview for A House In Berlin

  There’s really no excuse for producing such a visually insipid film.

  After a woman inherits an old house in Berlin, she starts to piece together its history.
• 
  Hyena (2014)

  Review preview for Hyena

  Bent copper. Check. A liking for the charlie. Check. Shady gangsters operating out of shady strip clubs. Check.

  The story of a corrupt cop caught up in the London crime scene.
• 
  N - The Madness Of Reason (2014)

  Review preview for N - The Madness Of Reason

  A truly remarkable film.

  Drawing connections between European adventurer Raymond Borremans and present-day Africa.
• 
  Letters From The South (2013)

  Review preview for Letters From The South

  Like many a portmanteau film Letters From The South is an uneven collection, with some films enchanting while others frustrate in equal measure.

  A portmanteau film about six cross-cultural encounters.
• 
  Let Us Prey (2014)

  Review preview for Let Us Prey

  Credit must go to cinematographer Piers McGrail whose sumptuous visuals add to the tension and creeping sense of dread.

  Held in a remote police station, a mysterious stranger takes over the minds and souls of everyone inside.
• 
  Only God Forgives (2013)

  Review preview for Only God Forgives

  Perhaps Winding Refn’s most deliberately difficult work to date.

  A drug smuggler in Bangkok is charged by his mother with finding and killing whoever killed his brother.
• 
  Dressed To Kill (1980)

  Review preview for Dressed To Kill

  De Palma pulls no punches in his representation of sex and violence, which are, as the film makes explicit, often inextricably intertwined.

  A mysterious, tall blonde woman, wearing dark sunglasses murders one of a psychiatrist's patients, and now she goes after the high-priced call girl who witnessed the murder.
• 
  Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (2012)

  Review preview for Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction

  The nature of Harry Dean Stanton means that no documentary is ever going to get underneath his skin, yet director Sophie Huber does manage to crack his defensive wall on occasion.

  A portrait of the actor, with singing.
• 
  Penumbra (2013)

  Review preview for Penumbra

  There’s something poetically haunting about the couple’s existence and the smallness of their world.

  An elderly couple living on the coast of Mexico remember their son, who was killed trying to cross the border into the US.
• 
  Not Another Happy Ending (2013)

  Review preview for Not Another Happy Ending

  If there is one positive thing that can be said about the film it is that it lives up to the promise of its title.

  A publisher tries to improve an author's creativity by making her life less happy.
• 
  Blackbird (2013)

  Review preview for Blackbird

  A frequently comic script is enhanced by the naturalism with which all the actors deliver their lines.

  A young ballad singer laments the way his small Scottish village is changing - and dying
• 
  Leviathan (2012)

  Review preview for Leviathan

  An awe-inspiring experience.

  A documentary shot in the North Atlantic and focused on the commercial fishing industry.
• 
  Emperor Vists The Hell (2012)

  Review preview for Emperor Vists The Hell

  Feels like an attempt to stretch out what should really exist as a short film.

  A powerful man who offends a divine messenger is condemned to an early death but told he can win a second chance if he can placate the ghosts of his enemies.
• 
  We Steal Secrets: The Story Of WikiLeaks (2013)

  Review preview for We Steal Secrets: The Story Of WikiLeaks

  Manning's real life sacrifices and internal torment are the beating heart of the film.

  A profile of the Wikileaks organisation and the various people who contributed to its success.
• 
  A Story Of Children And Film (2012)

  Review preview for A Story Of Children And Film

  We're transported into a world of cinema; some of it is known, much of it unknown, which surely fires the imagination of any viewing cinephile.

  A look at the way children have been represented in film from around the world.
• 
  The Night Of The Hunter (1955)

  Review preview for The Night Of The Hunter

  More than 60 years after its initial release as a critical and commercial flop, The Night of the Hunter remains a brilliant oddity without equal.

  A religious fanatic marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real daddy hid $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.
• 
  A Long Way From Home (2013)

  Review preview for A Long Way From Home

  The film never goes anywhere, never develops any conflict and never feels believable.

  Meeting a holidaying couple causes a retired couple to reassess life.
• 
  Breathe In (2013)

  Review preview for Breathe In

  Director Drake Doremus handles the material superbly, aware of its pitfalls and sensitive to all the vagaries of human behaviour which make these characters so intriguing.

  The arrival of an exchange student reawakens a middle aged man's musical ambitions.
• 
  The Long Riders (1980)

  Review preview for The Long Riders

  "We played a rough game, and we lost"

  The origins, exploits and the ultimate fate of the Jesse James gang is told in a sympathetic portrayal of the bank robbers made up of brothers who begin their legendary bank raids because of revenge.
• 
  Death Watch (1980)

  Review preview for Death Watch

  Bertrand Tavernier’s 1980 curio Death Watch remains a chilly and enigmatic film, one which is hard to love but not hard to admire.

  A man with a camera implanted in his brain is commissioned to film a documentary about a terminally ill woman's last days.
• 
  Undefeated (2011)

  Review preview for Undefeated

  There are fights between players, season-threatening injuries, bashful romance and inspirational team talks, but none of it feels false.

  Meet the coach who is determined to help Mannassas High School football team overcome their 110 year losing streak.
• 
  Casque d'Or (1952)

  Review preview for Casque d'Or

  Becker trusts his actors and their small movements and gestures to portray meaning beyond the dialogue.

  In turn of the 20th century France, working girl Marie snubs the affections of the local gangsters for Georges Manda, a reformed hoodlum himself, with unpleasant consequences.
• 
  Elegy Of Life (2006)

  Review preview for Elegy Of Life

  A film that will no doubt appeal to those already with an interest in classical music, or Russian culture, but perhaps not those who come to the film with an appreciation of Sokurov’s feature films.

  A documentary about the famous musician Mstislav Rostropovich and his wife, Galina Vishnevskaya.
• 
  Port of Shadows (1938)

  Review preview for Port of Shadows

  The kindness of strangers in this foreboding and foggy world of gangsters and crooks reveals an aspirational and tender heart underneath it all.

  A military deserter finds love, trouble and a small dog in a foggy Le Havre - the Port of Shadows.
• 
  That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)

  Review preview for That Obscure Object of Desire

  Funny, bewildering and occasionally slightly frustrating, The Obscure Object of Desire is everything you would expect from Bunuel

  A man regales passengers on a train with the story of his frustrated romance with the enchanting Conchita.