Sunshine on Leith (2013)

 Pros: The second half of this film is a true masterpiece, piecing together numerous songs by The Proclaimers, the cast is filled with realistic characters portrayed by talent actor, the film contains three love stories: Davy (George MacKay) and his sister's co-worker, Yvonne (Antonia Thomas), his sister Liz (Freya Manor) and his friend, Ally (Kevin Guthrie) and his parents, Jean and Robert (Jane Horrocks and Peter Mullen), ready to celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Everything is going fine and then seemingly all three couples implode at the same time, one never healing. Still, it is a great, little film.

Cons: The first half flies by, which is incredibly unfortunate, The meet-cute between Yvonne and Davy is non-existent, and their courtship is heavily rushed albeit realistic. And the scenes between songs are sometimes rushed, especially in the aforementioned first half of the film. The pacing was certainly lacking cohesion in the beginning of the film, which is just devastating especially when the second half was so good. 

Recommend: Yes

Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-The fact that this film wasn't George MacKay's breakthrough is mind-boggling and unacceptable. Instead, we would have to wait six years until 1917 for him to receive the credit he deserved, though his supporting turn in 2016's Captain Fantastic was likewise brilliant. 

-Antonia Thomas would find success on The Good Doctor when she is capable of so much more, such as headlining her own show. 

-I have to nitpick, where does Yvonne's bag go for the last scene?

-You should never blame the child for the sins of their parents. 

-It is sad that Ally re-enlists just so he feels wanted.

-This film does touch on some important subjects, including PTSD and does so well, without bogging it down and making this a truly depressing film.

-Liz picks herself over a man, a move that rarely happens in so-called rom-coms but it is refreshing to see as she wouldn't have been happy in the long run had she settled down with Ally. 

-The songs do fit in pretty well with the plot, thank goodness, the film would have failed without that.

-However, hardly any of the talented extras (especially from the final scene) are credited, which is a huge mistake.

-Dexter Fletcher (Rocketman) is the director, for the record. 

-I have to thank Youtube's Ms. Mojo for bringing this little film to my attention.