Run

Ignore the naysayers - Great introspective film - the introspection may make it hard to watch but worth it.

I tried to watch this film on BB2 last Sunday night, but had to give up after 20 minutes or so. The reason: the dialogue was almost incomprehensible. I have no problem with the Doric dialect - my parents came from Aberdeenshire but were not from the Buchan area - but because of the actors' continual mumbling. Did the director really encourage his actors to be so incomprehensible? Even James Dean in his heyday was more understandable. Memo to Mr Graham: I don't expect actors in Scottish films to talk like RP, but if films like "Local Hero" are understandable to non Scottish audiences, the so should this one.

Run has been described as Fast and Furious does Kitchen Sink drama.

If only it was half as interesting than that concept.

Starting out with Bruce Springsteen's iconic lyrics for Born to Run. It also ends with a Springsteen song.

Finnie (Mark Stanley) is a fish factory worker in his 30s in Aberdeenshire. With two teenage kids, life is passing him by.

One night he borrows his drag racer son's car for a joyride. The need for speed gives him a thrill.

The film has a brooding performance from Stanley. It has a strong dialect but it was not an issue for me.

It just lacked a strong story. It had too much navel gazing. Springsteen sang about escaping. Here the characters realise that they have nowhere to run.

There are other reviews that put it more eloquently, but once all's said and done, the truth is this film is dull, mesmerisingly depressing and devoid of any real story. I actually watched it on the strength of Amy Manson but she's only in less than half of it, and not enough to lift it out of the doldrums Anger, depression, sadness, disappointment, and absolutely no hope whatsoever for the future is what this film brings. There is no escape from the misery so I give it a 3.

This is quite an interesting observational piece that goes some way to illustrating the lack of opportunities and activities in small, one-industry, towns. This film is based around Fraserburgh - a town of 13,000-odd folk in the north of Scotland that is home to a fishing fleet but very little else. Mark Stanley is "Finnie" a Fraserburgh lifer who works in a fish processing factory. His son does too, at least until the start of this 24 hour dip into their family lives. His wife works in a hairdressers and they have another younger schoolboy child. Late at night, after a fairly "lively" attempt at a family dinner, "Finnie" borrows his son's car and goes for a bit of a joyride - picking up his son's pregnant ex-girlfriend en route and they race a few local youths then the breakers on the sea wall... anything for an adrenalin rush, it would seem. Unfortunately, we only really get a superficial look at the characters; the frustrations and mundanity of their existence is writ large, but therein lies the film's problem - it is a bit like watching goldfish in a dirty bowl; we see but cannot empathise or really engage. There is lots of pent up anger amongst the family; but also some affection - which neither "Finnie" nor his son "Kid" (Anders Hayward) have a clue how to demonstrate. It is worth watching, but is remarkably unfulfilling and empty.