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A few months ago, Madonna announced that she would direct a biopic of her own life. It came after Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody,which were produced by Elton John and Queen’s Jim Beach respectively. Joining this musical canon – albeit as a footnote – is Dave McLean’s Schemers,in which the shrewd promoter tells his origin story of hustling through the music scene of 1980s Dundee.

McLean begins his adaptation with a dubious nod to Trainspotting, showing a cuckolded thug chase young Davie (Conor Berry) down a cobbled Scottish street. This glaringly hackneyed reference is followed by many more, yet the strength of Berry’s carefree performance manages to cut through the threadbare pastiche on occasion.

Berry cuts an endearingly insouciant figure as Davie, with a long, skinny frame and a neat mop of hair.When a broken leg dashes his football dreams, Davie organises a gig to impress local...

One boy’s climb from disco organiser to Scottish entertainment kingpin – directed by the man himself – contains battered sausages but needed more bite

This account of the rise of Dundee music promoter Dave Mclean, later to become the UK’s tireless ambassador for grunge, is directed by Dave Mclean, produced by Dave Mclean and co-written by Dave Mclean; at least the film doesn’t shy away from the chutzpah of the vanity project. As his younger self progresses from on-the-fly student discos to a dicey triumph via sweet-talking Iron Maiden to play Dundee’s Caird Hall in June 1980, Mclean ramps up this account of Tayside wheeler-dealing with abundant freeze-frames and a street-sprint intro that leave no doubt which modern Scottish classic it is emulating.

“Davie” (played with smiling self-assurance by Conor Berry) is helped on his way by small-time dealer Scot (Sean Connor) and homebody DJ John (Grant Robert Keelan...