Film Review: Rory’s Way Directors: Mihal Brezis, Oded Binnun

0

Rory’s Way, also known as The Estrucan Smile, features Brian Cox as Rory, a perpetually growling but lovable rogue of a Scotsman who spends his days whittling wooden creatures and verbally sparring with an old nemesis in the local pub over which of them will die first.

Starring: Brian Cox, Rosanna Arquette, JJ Feild, Thora Birch, Treat Williams.

Leaving the isolated peace of the Hebridean island he calls home, Rory travels to San Francisco to seek potentially life-saving medical treatment. Along the way, Rory spends time with his estranged son and daughter-in-law, attempts to bond with his infant grandson, and shares his regional Gaelic with a professor studying rare and dying languages. The thinly veiled subtext throughout the film’s plot is that time and change is fluid and natural, and neither clinging to the past or abandoning it entirely leads to an easy and enjoyable life for you or those around you.

Many of the characters occasionally slip into roles as caricatures, with Thora Birch as Rory’s anxious, power-suited daughter-in-law, Rosanna Arquette as the sultry, sassy likemind offering Rory a final moment of romantic connection, and Cox himself as the manliest old man this side of Scotland. Although the film makes little effort to extend itself beyond a predictable and middle-of-the-road drama, this is also where it finds its greatest strength – it never pretends to be something it isn’t, which allows the viewer to fall in love with the small, genuine moments peppered throughout.

The Gaelic spoken by the characters is exquisitely beautiful – even when crass in translation – and sweeping shots of both Scotland and San Francisco illustrate the comforting beauty of the former and the manic, frantic nature of the latter in Rory’s eyes. We also spend some time examining the characters’ relationships with food: Rory immediately seeks out ‘the bloodiest meat you’ve got’ at a local butcher and carves away slices with his whittling knife, while Rory’s son Ian – played by Tom Hiddleston doppelgänger, JJ Feild – is a sous chef pushing the limits of molecular gastronomy.

Rory’s Way is, admittedly, filled with these polarising moments and personalities, but never forgets that in its soul, it’s a heartwarming story with a predictably bittersweet ending. This isn’t the surreal comic genius of The Royal Tenenbaums, nor is it an examination of age with the complexity of 2006’s Venus, but a simple story about an alienated man desperate for connection, self-sabotaging this desire until it is almost too late.

In this regard, Rory’s Way achieves exactly what it sets out to; a modest portrait brought to life by its surrounding colours of culture, food, family, and love.

Oxford Lamoureaux

Rory’s Way opens in cinemas July 18th

Oxford Lamoureaux
Latest posts by Oxford Lamoureaux (see all)