good back-story, and good acting

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Some of the negative reviewers on here need to return to playing with their i-phones, because only that will take them back to a plastic world that simply doesn't get surreal black comedy. Surreal - ever heard of the word? And all you lot can say is that the plot is "unlikely"! Yes, surreal. That is what Barney Thomson is. And black comedy. You can feel it coming right from the start, the opening an essay in drabness and dreariness which would sit well in a Python sketch, and just as in one of those, you know something is about to leap out and grab you, but you have no idea what. Something totally unexpected. And just as nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, neither does anyone expect what Barney is about to do, and then nobody could possibly expect what his mother is about to do, and has indeed been doing for some time. It is an absolute riot, and my wife and I were falling off our seats with laughter. Brilliant! 10/10

Being Scottish, and being from Glasgow, I had to see this movie.It has the feel of a 'modern sweeney todd', in this case a bumbling and hapless accidental sweeney todd, who somehow spontaneously kills people, often just by touching them. The strange accidents that result in the deaths of his co-workers are definitely some of the least believable murders I have ever seen.All of this accomplished by Hollywood's 'New Favorite Scottish Actor', - Robert Carlyle, Bobby, who appears to be the go-to guy for a Scottish character lately (Ewan Mcgregor sighs and thanks him)Saving the day is Emma Thompson, as usual. I would rate this role by Emma as Oscar worthy and one of her best. She absolutely NAILS the old Glasgow biddy as Bobby's ma, with a wee bit o spark left in-er, and the laughs are frequent every time she is on screen and pulling off a flawless guttural lower-class Glaswegian accent.The movie begins as a dark comedy, with bumbling inspectors in not so hot pursuit of a serial killer in Glasgow that is chopping up it's victims and mailing them to loved ones. As our hapless and clutsy barber, who just seems to get people killed by accident but is not the serial killer, slowly clues in to the horror that the real killer may be his own mother, the truth about how little his mother loves him and his dubious parentage take the movie down a real depressingly dark side road we really didn't need. At this point we just want to vomit along with Bobby, and the ending has little uplift to our depressed hearts.This movie could have been so much more, the Scottish version of 'Hot Fuzz' for example. But instead of going for the laughs, like a true Glasgow bully, it smashed the beer bottle and came at us to give us a 'Glasgow Grin'. Gutted after watching this. Gutted.

Firstly, I have immense high regard for the four principal actors in this film; namely, Robert Carlyle, Ray Winstone, Tom Courtennay and Emma Thompson. Their resumes' over the years have been the envy of any aspiring actor/actress. That said, why on earth did they subscribe to this dire movie?Granted Tom Courtenay played the irascible Chief Superintendent well but I'm getting a little tired that the boss is always depicted this way. The world over film makers do the same thing, wouldn't it be refreshing if the boss was portrayed as a kind, supportive human being for once? Emma Thompson did well taking off the Glaswegian accent, Ray Winstone did well playing Ray Winstone and Robert Carlyle was just OK playing the guy where life just isn't being nice to him.For me the film lacked direction and fell between two stools, it wasn't particularly funny so at best was a very poor comedy and it certainly wasn't dark humour, so it basically fell short on all counts.Do not be seduced by the cast like I had been. Avoid.

What starts off like it's going to head into Guy Ritchie mk1 territory, this veers sharply into the often difficult waters of black comedy. But oh it's damn good. Emma Thompson steals the show; having seen her in no less that 20 films over the years, there is no doubt that she is in her element here as a the protagonist's part mum/part xxxxxx. Both Carlyle and the ever angry 'ard Winstone also deliver powerful and hilarious performances. I have a sneaking suspicion that in a few years' time, this film will be regarded as a British cult classic. Why? With a storyline like this, there are usually dozens of cringe worthy lines that a whole host of actors fail to deliver with conviction; not here-- the tightness of the script reminds me of films like The Business, Withnail & I, Trainspotting and even Extras; the comparison with the latter two being (intentional?) inevitable. The casting of Ashley Jenson playing decidedly off character is another masterstroke. With the exception of Birdman, there hasn't been a film I want to almost immediately re-watch on DVD so soon after seeing it in the theatres because I am sure there are buried gems I've probably missed. I've seen a number of mixed reviews of this in the press but I hope it will rise above it because it's definitely one of the best British efforts of the last year.