On a Clear Day

The opening titles or first couple of scenes of this movie have quite an upbeat, optimistic feel, with kids shown playing about on a beach with sparkly bright water and a brand new cruise liner being officially christened with champagnae and sent on its maiden voyage. However, soon after it becomes really quite glum, with Frank clearly shown to be very unmotivated and lacking direction, wandering around the streets of Glasgow rather aimlessly, after he gets the news about being laid off. Its clear that Frank has a good network of friends and relatives that care about him and try to be careful around him, to not upset him and try to raise his spirits, although he comes across as quite a solitary person, not someone who would really open up and talk about things very easily, even to those closest to him. I liked the characters in this movie, I reckon it seemed fairly realistic in the reactions of others and how they spoke to him. You can see people trying to read Franks body language and look out for him, even if they perhaps don't go about things in perhaps the best way, they have ultimately good intentions and I suppose its one of those movies where your reminded of the importance of having caring relatives and a couple of really good friends, as I suppose you never know when things you take for granted may suddenly be taken from you. I guess you could argue that its a bit like The Fully Monty, in terms of the plot, as its about someone who has hit hard times and doing something which to them is rather extraordinary, to put a positive spin on things, with the help, or moreso encouragement, of others. The movie features some moderate Glaswegian dialects and Scottish slang, which obviously is fine for me since im quite familiar with it, or certainly generally Scottish slang, since I live an hour outside of Glasgow myself. Certainly dialogue wise, it seemed pretty authentic. There is very much a social commentary, or preach-y type aspect/feel to this movie, which some might not particularly like. One clear example of this (to me) is a scene in which Frank is training in the local swimming pools and comes across a disabled child with I think its called bow legs? who manages to get himself in the pool and swims well. His reaction seems to be one of worry that the boy will struggle, so he swims over, presumably to help but it becomes clear he's not needed and I felt Frank perhaps questioned in that moment if his challenge he'd set himself was really so significant - oh yes, a worthy message, that! there are always people in harder situations than our own but its no bad thing to have something which is a challenge for ourselves to aim towards in general, regardless, I reckon. Suffice to say, its a little cheesy and sentimental perhaps in one or two parts. I think its fair to say this movie is a little cliched and not entirely original but I felt that the mix of characters, with Franks good pals being a bit 'madcap' (think not exactly the brightest tools in the box but full of patter and good for a laugh, a bit of a 'rag tag bunch') and others, made it pleasantly watchable - there is a decent sort of warmth to this movie, if that makes sense without making it seem quite too sickly sweet. Cast wise, as well as Peter Mullan, who plays Frank and certainly does well in his role at becoming quite solitary and stoney faced, yet quite emotive on certain ocassions, Brenda Blethyn plays Franks wife, Joan. She is also shown as having her own setbacks she has to deal with in her own way and comes across as also quite a determined person. Among Franks friends, Billy Boyd plays Danny, Ron Cook plays Norman and Benedict Wong plays Chan, the only asian, or really the only non-Scottish ethnicity character I can remember seeing. I wouldn't say this came across as an especially memorable or in any way groundbreaking type movie, there is a slight life affirming type aspect to it (that might be slightly too strong a term though but hopefully you know what I mean) but otherwise its pretty average really, for this type of film. It is really rather cheesy in some ways but its pretty pleasant to watch, if your not bothered by some moderate language and the like. The cheesy sort of sentimentality aspect may mark it down a bit but its not too bad overall. There are certainly worse movies out there and worse ways to spend about an hour and forty minutes, I reckon (the movie lasts about that, running time wise). One last thing I'd like to add is that its fair to say that this is not a Hollywood movie, this is a Scottish movie with a glimmer of heart but as I say perhaps a little too much cheese or sentimentality to make it rise above the rest ultimately.