It comes across as twee, comfy-cardigan film-making. And, Eddie Izzard’s best efforts notwithstanding, it simply isn’t very funny.
Whisky Galore
United Kingdom · 2016
Rated R · 1h 38m
Director Gillies MacKinnon
Starring Gregor Fisher, Eddie Izzard, Naomi Battrick, Ellie Kendrick
Genre Romance, Comedy
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
The story of the inhabitants of the isolated Scottish island of Todday, in the Outer Hebrides, where gloom sets in as their wartime rationing of whisky runs out. When cargo ship the SS Cabinet Minister runs aground the shrewd islanders run rings around the buffoonish English Home Guard commander Captain Waggett and conspire to hide away cases of the precious amber nectar.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Time Out London by Dave Calhoun
Directed by Gillies MacKinnon, this new version lacks the mischief of the original and feels like a sluggish museum piece.
Oddly stiff where Alexander Mackendrick’s original village farce was infectiously tipsy, Gillies MacKinnon’s interpretation is twee, tweedy and rather timid about putting its own stamp on a now-quaint story.
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
Gone is the original’s joyful sense of mischief; what’s left is an inoffensive piece of twaddle that never fully appreciates the ineluctable bond between community spirit and a drop of the hard stuff.
A dry and surprisingly dull film, it is a comedy which doesn't induce a single laugh and a drama that doesn't engage emotionally or pull on the heartstrings at all.
Los Angeles Times by Noel Murray
Granted, there’s not much reason to watch this Whisky Galore! so long as the 1949 version still exists. But it’s clear that everyone involved with this production had genuine affection for the material and for the very idea of old Scotland as a genteel utopia populated by kindly tippler
Village Voice by Serena Donadoni
Instead of glorifying the amber liquid, Whisky Galore! is a love letter to an isolated community trapped in amber.
Users who liked this film also liked
Love Actually
The ultimate romantic comedy.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States, France • 2003
- Director Richard Curtis
- Cast Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Lúcia Moniz, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson
- Genre Comedy, Romance, Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Doomsday
Thirty years after a lethal virus spread throughout Scotland, an elite group must battle through a hellish landscape to find its cure.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States, South Africa • 2008
- Director Neil Marshall
- Cast Rhona Mitra, Bob Hoskins, Adrian Lester, Alexander Siddig, David O'Hara, Malcolm McDowell
- Genre Action, Science Fiction, Thriller
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Avatar
When humans invade a distant planet, a man sent to study the indigenous aliens struggles to choose sides.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2009
- Director James Cameron
- Cast Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi
- Genre Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction
- Available on Disney Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Colossal
There's a monster in all of us
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada, United States, Spain • 2016
- Director Nacho Vigalondo
- Cast Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Tim Blake Nelson, Dan Stevens, Austin Stowell, Hannah Cheramy
- Genre Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction
- Available on Tubi TV, Plex Channel
Their Finest
During the Blitz of World War II, a female screenwriter works on a film celebrating England's resilience as a way to buoy a weary populace's spirits.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Sweden • 2017
- Director Lone Scherfig
- Cast Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy, Richard E. Grant, Jack Huston, Helen McCrory
- Genre Romance, War, Comedy, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Dunkirk
Hope is a weapon, survival is a victory.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Netherlands, France • 2017
- Director Christopher Nolan
- Cast Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Aneurin Barnard, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles, James D'Arcy
- Genre War, Action, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, Plex
The Foreigner
When a man loses his daughter to an act of senseless political violence, he must fight for justice.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, China, United States • 2017
- Director Martin Campbell
- Cast Pierce Brosnan, Jackie Chan, Rory Fleck-Byrne, Ray Fearon, Charlie Murphy, Orla Brady
- Genre Action, Thriller
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
The Ottoman Lieutenant
In a land on the brink of war the most dangerous place to be is in love.
- ✭
- Turkey, United States • 2017
- Director Joseph Ruben
- Cast Michiel Huisman, Hera Hilmar, Josh Hartnett, Ben Kingsley, Haluk Bilginer, Affif Ben Badra
- Genre Romance, Drama, War
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Joker
A failed stand-up comedian is driven insane, turning to a life of crime in chaos in Gotham City.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada, United States • 2019
- Director Todd Phillips
- Cast Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Shea Whigham
- Genre Crime, Thriller, Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, TNT, TBS, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, Plex
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Spider-Man faces a crisis from across the multiverse.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United States, Iceland • 2021
- Director Jon Watts
- Cast Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jon Favreau, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei
- Genre Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Bank of Dave
A working class Burnley man, Dave, fights to set up a community bank so that he can help local businesses thrive.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- • 2023
- Director Chris Foggin
- Cast Joel Fry, Phoebe Dynevor, Rory Kinnear, Jo Hartley, Hugh Bonneville, Paul Kaye
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla