Rob Roy

Rating:
Summary: VERY GOOD EVEN IF IT IS HOLLYWOOD'S VERSION.........
Review: IF YOU READ THE HISTORY OF ROB ROY YOU WILL GET A MUCH CLEARER VIEW OF HIM. BUT, THIS IS A GOOD AND ENTERTAINING STORY OF THIS
GREAT SCOTTISH HERO. IT IS VERY "HOLLYWOODISH" I FEEL BECAUSE
TO RELATE THE REAL HISTORY MIGHT SEEM BORING TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC WHO LIKE ACTION AND WAR. BUT IT IS STILL A VERY GOOD
MOVIE AND I AM GLAD I BOUGHT IT.I LIKE LIAM NEESON AND THINK HE DID A GREAT JOB AS ROB ROY.....

Rating:
Summary: Rob Roy is another sad page from human history.
Review: I loved Rob Roy. The acting was great, the story tragic, and not because someone dies, but because it exemplifies the cruelty of the British rule on Scotland one more time. Braveheart it wasn't, because Rob Roy didn't have the impact that William Wallace had, but it was a story closer to the humans that we are. It angered me, because I couldn't help them. It saddened me, because of their pain.
Good movie, bad taste in the mouth for the evil perpetrated by British rule.

Rating:
Summary: A classic in need of a larger following
Review: Unfortunately for this excellently written, exquisitly photographed, tightly directed and expertly acted semi-masterpiece, the splashy, higher profile Braveheart came out the same year. Granted Braveheart does indeed contain more spectacle and epic scale action scenes in its first half hour than Rob Roy does in its entire running time. Granted too, Mel Gibson pulled off a great feat directing and acting in such a sprawling film. However, Rob Roy may very well be the far superior film deserving of finding a loving audience.

Firstly, screenwriter Alan Sharp and Director Micheal Caton-Jones work to create a virtuous hero in Rob Roy. As a character Rob loves his family, his hearth, his home and most importantly his honor. More than this, he not only espouses such high ideals, he manages to back up his words with solid deeds. His faults all plague him from the same source of his strength. His pride gets him into trouble and refreshingly, Rob Roy is a character who accepts full accountability for his failings. He is also, as we see a character who is able to listen and forgive.

While it is true that Rob Roy does take its sweet time in telling its narrative, it fills its time with witty dialouge that reveals well rounded characters who fill three dimensions. The action scenes while sparse in number, are expertly filled with suspense and true tension. This is due directly to Sharp and Caton-Jones letting their actors tell their story so we truly care about their futures.

It is truly rare in this day and age to find a hero who obeys the sancity of marriage and well as truly honor his word and be willing to lead from the front. Rob, in the classic tradition of of Beowulf, sets his objectives and no matter what the obstacle, follows through.

Every shot, cut and line works in carefull polished precise unity to create the hero as work of art.

The film is explicit in its depiction of sexual relations. But for once, a story shows congress between a husband and wife who are passionate for one another as well as utterly devoted. More on the chemistry between Jessica Lange and Liam Neeson later. This tender and poetic intimacy is starkly contrasted with the violent rape scene and casual philanderings of Tim Roth's Archie Cunningham. It is so rare that explicit sex actually serves as an enhancer of plot and character and not simple audience titilation.

The photography of Karl Walter Lindenlaub gloriously captures the harsch beauty and craggy green peaks of the Scottish highlands. The sense of geographical location as a character works overtime in Rob Roy. Only in such a colorful and violent landscape could a hero like Rob exist. The Scottish Tourism board must still be on their knees thanking the producers for the film.

The film's casting is nothing short of perfect. Lang and Neeson generate sheer sparks in their scenes together. The quite moments they share with their eyes is all what film acting aspires. Hollywood must couple these two expert actors again. Neeson combines raw sexuality with expert acting craftsmanship. Rob Roy may be the one film that utilized Neeson's rare talents to the upmost. Neeson is that rarest of rare commodities: a movie star. His Rob Roy is really a stunning example of subtle emotional complexity combined with sheer animal athleticism.

The rest of the cast is sublime. The scene where Jessica Lange proudly and defiantly marches out of a burning house, holding her head high, with tears of shame brimming against her eyes is a true Oscar moment if there ever was one.

John Hurt, Andrew Keir, Brian Cox and the rest of the cast turn in fully inhabited performances as well. However, special mention must be made of Tim Roth's foppish and gentile Satan Archie Cunningham. Not only is he evil and deserving of a violent end, he also manages to elicit sympathy and reveal his true humanity laying underneath his sneer.

Rob Roy is a film of complexity and beauty. It is a film of refined violence and consistent excellence. It is a story of good versus evil in color. It is a classic in need of a larger following.

Rating:
Summary: The Marquis of Montrose and the Duke of Argyll were Scottish
Review: This is a very enjoyable film and I would recommend it. However, the Marquis of Montrose and the Duke of Argyll were Scottish, NOT English. For some reason, if a Scotsman is persecuted in a film, everyone has to assume it is the English, even if the persecution was commited by a Norman, a German, a Scotsman or anyone else. I do wish that Hollywood would make films that were accurate to history or in this case to literature. Please stop vilifying the English with no justification.

Rating:
Summary: "Honor is a gift no man can take away from you"
Review: "Rob Roy" is a brilliant film. This film has superb acting, and excellant dialogue, as well as being as rousing epic of good triumphing over evil. The story takes place in the early 1700's, where the English nobleman are destroying the scotish way of life. There oppressive ways have made it diificult for the Scots to survive such hard times as winter. Robert Roy MacGregor the leader of his clan devises a plan to enable his clan to survive the upcoming winter. Well, not to give too much away his plan backfires and MacGregor is forced to make a courageous stand against his oppressors. He does so withstanding the cruel oppression of the English, and above all relinqushing his HONOR. Fine performances and an overall great film.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, with one serious reservation
Review: Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange do excellent work in this picture, but it has a very disturbing ... scene, when Rob Roy's wife is attacked by British soldiers. Because I find such scenes disturbing, I wouldn't wish to see this movie again, but I must acknowledge that it does an outstanding job of portraying the hatreds on both sides when one country is occupied by another. If you can steel yourself against that brutal scene, you should see "Rob Roy".

Rating:
Summary: If You Like Braveheart, This Might Be Better
Review: This is fine drama on an epic scale. Liam Neeson plays the legendary Rob Roy McGregor, a Scottish clan leader who has no interest in politics and just wants to do his best for his family and his clan. They obviously see this and are unswervingly loyal to their leader. Rob Roy gets pulled into an ongoing cold-war-type feud between two noblemen, the Marquis of Montrose and the Duke of Argyll. After borrowing money from Montrose to buy cattle, move them to market, and sell them at a profit, one of Monstrose's courtiers (an illegitimate son?) arranges for the money to be stolen and Rob Roy to be framed. This member of the Montrose household, Cunningham, might be the most deliciously evil villain to ever set foot on a movie stage. From the viewer's first sight of him, one knows Cunningham, played by Tim Roth, is evil and must eventually face off with the hero.

The scenery of this movie, in the Scottish Highlands, is stunning. It makes anything else appear claustrophobic and cramped. The music is very fitting, although the action, the acting, and the scenery might make the music hard to even notice in the first viewing of "Rob Roy". Liam Neeson plays his part perfectly, and comes off as both larger-than-life and very real and human and decent. I cannot think of anyone who could play Cunningham as well as Tim Roth (evil, despicable, scoundrel, fop, villain, cold-blooded, malicious - oh, excuse me, I got carried away). I will not give away any more of the story, but the sword-fight near the end might be the best in movie history (Luke Skywalker versus Darth Vader is one other contender, along with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jin versus Darth Maul is another, as is Yoda versus Count Duko). Buy this one and enjoy it whenever you want to go far away on a rainy afternoon.

Rating:
Summary: Loved it!!
Review: I liked this movie better than Braveheart. Tim Roth's performance is one of the most chilling "bad guy' performances in years... Liam Neeson was great as well as Jessica Lange.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent film.
Review: This film is one of the best war-scene movies set in the UK. The gorgeous, but cold landscape of Scotland adds much to the dark but optimistic story. While Liam Neeson plays his role as the leader of the average people to the T, both Jessican Lange and Tim Roth steal the show. Roth is at his best here, playing a highly effeminate, highly skilled fencer who happens to be the nephew of a powerful official. While he is a one dimensional villain, if you have a fetish for well-played villains...you'll love this! He is absurdly pompous and his acting pays tribute to the art of being self-assuredly odd. Lange, as in everything, does an amazing job of bringing her flavour of weak strength...her resolve and nobility are also one dimensional, but the part manages to provide her with enough to make her very interesting in her choices and her acting will stun you.

Great film. You won't be bored. It's not as exhausting as Braveheart, and has an enjoyable fencing-type fight scene which keeps you in suspense till the end!

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable
Review: Splendid scenery, I grant you. I don't know how authentic the costumes were, but the filmmakers succeeded in dressing their male highlanders in kilts and tartans that looked like they actually could keep a guy reasonably warm in a chilly latitude. Nice to see a movie, too, in which the physical lovemaking is between two people faithfully married to one another. (The rape scene was hateful, though artistically defensible.) But at the end of the movie, the hero does something that is physically impossible. It really bothered me. The filmmakers could have given us a fully satisfactory conclusion without that. This was the crowning example of quite a number of implausibilities. If you haven't seen Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, THAT has the last word in cinematic small-scale battle.

I can hardly wait to re-read Walter Scott's novel, which, as someone else pointed out, has no overlap with this movie. Still in print after over a century and a half!