THE LEGEND OF BARNEY THOMSON (15)

3 stars

As the feature directorial debut of Robert Carlyle, The Legend of Barney Thomson emerges as little more than an okay black comedy, one that’s probably better directed than it is written.

Based on a character in a series of novels by Douglas Lindsay, it’s shot with a confidence that lets the visuals speak for themselves, and makes a real virtue of Bridgeton and Barras locations that are nicely shown off by the widescreen photography.

Carlyle also takes the title role as Barney, a Glasgow barber who’s not good with people, unable to provide the patter his boss (Stephen McCole) deems necessary for the job. He wants to demote Barney to the worst chair in the shop, resulting in a scuffle that leads to his boss’s accidental death.

Meanwhile there are murders taking place all over Scotland, with body parts being sent through the mail, leaving Ray Winstone’s cop with no clue as to how to tackle the mystery. But with signs starting to point him towards Barney, the set-up is in place for a likable caper. The jokes are in place too, and for a while many of them land.

There’s a consistency to the tone that even experienced directors sometimes struggle to achieve, and all the local characters speak broad Glaswegian without concession, which is to be admired. Well chosen music cues add polish and it feels like a proper movie even if the script doesn’t always sparkle.

Holding it together is a first rate cast and a bunch of nicely judged comic performances. As one of life’s losers, Barney is a well drawn and occasionally poignant character, and Carlyle makes him sympathetic while allowing the supporting cast to do the heavy lifting. Chiefly this involves Emma Thompson as Barney’s overbearing mother, hogging the spotlight as a grotesque old harridan with a pretty decent Glasgow accent.

Ashley Jensen, James Cosmo and Martin Compston beef it up, but unfortunately the pace slackens in the middle as the film finds itself boxed into a corner plot-wise with nowhere to go.

Worst of all though, it unravels totally when it comes time to wrap things up, and it’s a shame that the dismal final stretch will probably overshadow the good early work.

Director: Robert Carlyle

Running time: 96 mins

INSIDE OUT (U)

4 stars

When her family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco, 11-year-old Riley finds it tough to adjust to her new surroundings, and it’s the first time in her life that happiness isn’t her overriding emotion.

Emotions are at the core of Inside Out, and it’s the way these are represented and visualised that makes this frequently wondrous Pixar animation succeed.

Inside Riley’s head we meet her five controlling feelings of Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust, who help store her memories and squabble over which emotion should be prioritised.

It’s an ingenious premise, as we’ve come to expect from Pixar, even if it feels slightly borrowed from Beano characters The Numskulls. The great ideas keep popping up, like Riley’s mum and dad and others having their own crew of emotions, or the memory keepers hoovering up stuff that Riley doesn’t need any more, or dreams as movie productions.

As a result it’s consistently funny and delightful, an extraordinary journey through the mind, as sad and beautiful as it is hilarious.

Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) tries to lead but finds herself overtaken by the others as Riley gets older, with the main plot involving Joy and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) getting lost outside of headquarters in a Wonka-ish world of imagination and trying to find their way back.

Sometimes the physical doing of this is a bit contrived and easy, as if they're kind of making up the rules as and when necessary. But it’s a cartoon, and Pixar can do what they like. Even though they’d maybe lost their way slightly in the last few years, they're once again creating joy.

Directors: Ronnie Del Carmen, Pete Docter

Running time: 102 mins

MAGGIE (15)

3 stars

When is an Arnold Schwarzenegger zombie movie not an Arnold Schwarzenegger zombie movie?

When it’s a low budget and sombre effort focusing on one family, that begins some months after an outbreak with teen Maggie (Abigail Breslin) infected.

Every zombie movie nowadays needs to invent their own rules to keep them interesting, and here the angle is that doctors say Maggie will take a few weeks to turn, at which point her father Wade (Schwarzenegger) has to take her to quarantine.

This gives them time together to say their goodbyes in a contemplative drama that’s reminiscent of the kind of thing a director like Jim Mickle has been doing with genre stuff recently.

Unfortunately after a promising set-up it gets bogged down and mopey, Maggie herself doesn’t get much to do and it’s certainly no World War Z. But the scorched and desolate landscapes add a nice and necessary sense of despair and there are a couple of powerful moments and tough decisions to be made.

It’s hard to imagine a more bizarrely cast star than Arnie, but he’s surprisingly effective in his emoting, although perhaps less so when he has to speak, and his limitations are clear. But when he’s not speaking he’s a sturdy presence, doing enough with his face and eyes to suggest he really can act.

This is zombification as terminal illness and loss of humanity, but though it’s a strong card, it’s about the only one the film has, even though tackling themes of assisted suicide and euthanasia makes it a cut above.

There’s perhaps not quite enough going on here to support a feature, but all told it’s quite poignant and brave.

Director: Henry Hobson

Running time: 95 mins

EDEN (15)

1 star

The 90s garage music scene in Paris is the focal point for this meandering, narrative-free slog with not much in the way of focus during an opening stretch featuring a collection of parties and raves without offering any drama.

But, horrifically, it continues in exactly the same vein for the entire extended running time, with our main character Paul (Félix de Givry) playing some records or sitting around with friends in scenes that feel like we’ve joined them after any action has already happened.

As years and eventually decades pass we’re given no insight into these people or their lives, other than Paul occasionally bothering money from his mother, and only rarely given an indication of what this music means to them. It’s a sleepwalk through a lifestyle that will be unlikely to lead to converts and quite the most aimless and pointless exercise imaginable.

Director: Mia Hansen-Løve

Running time: 128 mins