Film Review: Rob Roy (1995)

Few Hollywood films have shaped global perception of Scotland, its culture and history as Braveheart did. The most successful film in the career of Mel Gibson also had one, more immediate effect. It easily overshadowed the rival Hollywood production dealing with another famous folk hero of Scottish history, Rob Roy, 1995 film directed by Michael Caton-Jones.

The plot of the film is set in 1714, few years after Scotland entered formal union with England, which increases political pressure and economic woes for traditional clans in Scottish Highlands. One of them is Clan MacGregor, whose chief Robert Roy MacGregor (played by Liam Neeson) wants to alleviate his people’s poverty. In order to do so he borrows 1000 £ from pro-Marquess of Montrose (played by John Hurt), pro-English noble from Lowlands, hoping to invest it in cattle trading. Unfortunately, Montrose’s young and ruthless cousin Archibald Cunningham (played by Tim Roth), learns about the deal and uses opportunity to kill Rob Roy’s friend Alan McDonald (played by Eric Stoltz) and steal the money. Rob Roy is suddenly faced with ruin, but Montrose is offering to forgive debt in exchange for Rob Roy falsely accusing his political main rival, Duke of Argyll (played by Andrew Keir) of treason. Rob Roy is, however, man of honour and he refuses and becomes an outlaw. Montrose retaliates by forcefully seizing his land while Cunningham rapes Roy’s wife Mary (played by Jessica Lange).

Like William Wallace in Braveheart, Rob Roy was real historical figure whose popular perception would be ultimately shaped more by folklore than actual historical record. Many writers and artists have contributed to that process, most notably Sir Walter Scott with his popular novel Rob Roy. Script by Alan Sharp was, on the other hand, partially inspired by another mythology – of American Old West with Sharp later going on record and explaining that he interpreted this film as “Western set in Highlands”. Michael Caton-Jones, Scottish director best known for period pieces, combined this approach with meticulous care of period detail and worked very hard to explain complicated politics of early 18th Century Scotland to average viewer. Like with Braveheart, Caton-Jones took non-romantic view of history and depicted the story with great deal of realism, which included explicit violence, foul language and various bodily functions rarely seen in old Hollywood period epics.

The biggest asset of the film is, however, in excellent cast. Liam Neeson, actor who would become big action star in his old age, is very effective in the role of large-than-life protagonist, often putting his height and stature to good use. But even more impressive is Tim Roth in the role of the main antagonist. He plays Cunnigham as complex character that is revolting, but fascinating in the way he uses his short stature and effeminate ways as a clever ploy to make his Scottish opponents underestimate him. Roth is brilliant, especially in realistic and brutal scenes of sword fighting, including the one at the end. Brian Cox, famous Scottish character actor provides another impressive villain by playing Killearn, treacherous and completely amoral estate manager of Montrose. John Hurt is somewhat less impressive as opportunistic aristocrat, while Jessica Lange tries a little bit too much in the role of protagonist’s wife. Efforts of the cast are aided by good cinematography by Karl Walter Lindelaub which puts picturesque Scottish locations to good use, as well as effective sountrack by Carter Burwell that uses Scottish folk music as source of inspiration.

Rob Roy has been made and released before Braveheart, but, despite decent box office and enthusiastic reviews, failed to make desired impact. The reason might be found in inevitable comparison between two films that make Gibson’s work bigger, more melodramatic and, most importantly, more spectacular. Unlike the fate of entire nations and battles featuring thousands of men, content in Rob Roy deals with private issues that in our times would have been even in those times settled by couple of attorneys. Yet, despite those inevitable shortcomings, Rob Roy is well-directed and well-acted film that could satisfy both fans of realistic historic fiction and traditional swashbuckling adventures, something that was becoming increasingly rare for products of 1990s Hollywood.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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