Sunshine on Leith

I should hate this. I thought I would. Take a band whose music is real. A band who don't do poxy love songs. Who do great Scottish songs of independence. A band I admit to loving. Now you try to shoehorn their songs into a musical. It is going to suck. Isn't it?

Actually no. No need to critique whats wrong with this movie. Everything is. It sucks. Its terrible.

I loved every minute. Its not Momma Mia (thank God) Its not Easy Rider. But it is a really enjoyable movie. Loads of fun. Bright, lively and well worth a watch.

This is the perfect date movie. If you, like me, don't like chick flicks. If its too early to watch "The unbearable lightness of being". Then this is a great option. It's just good fun.

Im a guy of the 80,s and although i thought the proclaimers were good, i never really became a fan. Don't get me wrong i enjoyed there music and style , but it never generated a passion in me. But one dark lonely night while it was raining outside and the trees were rattling on the windows, i thought i would watch Sunshine on Leith ( I may have had a lager or two) , And all i can say is WOW , it was awesome, it was on par with the commitments, which is no small achievement, the song that it derived its title from "Sunshine on leith" sung by "Jane Horrocks" was amazing , I loved it. Thank you for an amazing film and a wonderful soundtrack. Thank you aqain for a wonderful Film

Although I'm a Scot, I'm not a particular fan of the Proclaimers on whose songs this film musical is based. That said it's impossible to be Scottish and unaware of their music - there was even recent talk of their biggest hit "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" being the new national anthem. I'd describe their music as simple, tuneful and colloquial, unashamed of either the Scottish vernacular or Scottish accent in putting across a song.

This filmed version of the surprise hit stage musical makes good use of the Edinburgh and Leith locations and also employs a largely local cast to help give the story the required local flavour. The biggest names in the cast are Peter Mullen and Jane Horrocks as the silver anniversary-celebrating parents with the latter, who we remember from "Little Voice" not unsurprisingly carrying off a tune better. The rest of the young cast however also display good singing ability and inject enthusiasm and energy into their parts.

The story is relatively straightforward, with a Scottish "On The Town" tilt to it as two young Scottish soldiers return from a tour of Afghanistan to pick up the pieces of their lives in their home town, with romance unsurprisingly in the air as you'd expect in an upbeat singalong musical like this, with an extra twist as one of their parents' apparently rock solid marriage hits a crisis just as they run up to a major anniversary.

All three central relationships in the film work themselves out as best they can, helped along every ten minutes or so by another Reid Brothers song (watch out for their own brief cameo early in the film) and they even manage to work their best song, in my opinion "Letter From America" a song about the Highland Clearances into the narrative.

All in all, I found the movie a pleasant surprise, even the songs I didn't know made a good impression plus I enjoyed the familiar (to me) locations of Auld Reekie.

I perhaps wouldn't walk 500 miles to see it but it filled an enjoyable enough 100 minutes of my Friday night I will say.

"Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a death like slumber, must always create a sunshine," wrote Hawthorne "filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outside world." So it is that the habitually dark skies of Scotland open to the sun. A trio of diverse highlander couples, both experienced and not, struggle to deal with fears and passions stirred up by past loves, the urge to see the world before settling down, war and questions about whether we ever truly know someone. Singing and dancing to the music of the Proclaimers aids in working these questions out. The astonishing and effervescent, even if somewhat alarming, scenes of uptight and introverted Scotlanders warbling and writhing in the uncommon sunlight would move even Angela Merkel to spontaneous joy. Chemistry is lacking in the younger couples, yet despite this the film is touching and radiant. Seen at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

Went to an advanced screening of this film with a Q an A with Dexter Fletcher at the end.

Well what a great film, the musical scenes were really well done, and it just felt that the cast were really enjoying themselves. Good all round performances from everyone, nobody stole the show, just everybody contributed their own accomplished style. My personal opinion is that its a really hard job to produce a musical, as it can so easily look amateurish, Mama Mia succeeded, and so does Sunshine on Leith. The locations were superb, especially the closing scene where it appeared as though all of the population of Edinburgh was present and joining in.

The Q and A was very informative, and I will leave you to spot the walk on appearances of Dexter and the Proclaimers.

A great night out,, well done everyone who had a hand in this production.