RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

david-meldrum Sometimes being predictable can be a good thing. My wife and I were in celebratory mood having received some long-awaited good news. We believe in marking the good things in life, so we decided on a movie (not exactly unusual for us, I guess) and a bite to eat after. So off we headed to Cape Town's finest cinema, one of the very few independents left in the country, for Sunshine On Leith; a British film finally on a limited South African release, several months after it arrived in British cinema. It's a musical. Based on a stage show; which in turn was based around the songbook of Scottish pop duo The Proclaimers. The musical is itself a family drama/love story set around the return of two soldiers from service in Afghanistan; it is, of course, set in a beautifully shot Edinburgh, as much attention given to obscure back-alleys as it is to sweeping skylines. The film's helped by some fine casting - Peter Mullan and Jane Horrocks adding heavyweight talent to proceedings as the parents; the rest of the cast can all sing more than well enough, and look as comfortable acting as they are singing. It helps, of course, that the songs are near perfect of their type, and with their folk inflected tone fit naturally into a storytelling structure. The context some songs end up with may be obvious a mile off, but no less the worse for it - what you're imagining right now about Letter From America, for instance, is almost certainly right on the money.Ultimately insubstantial as it is, the film is an addictive and life-affirming smile. I'm sure there are people who won't enjoy it, and this may be my celebratory mood talking, but I find it hard to imagine how you end up in such a place with this film. The cast and director give themselves so entirely to the project that you're swept-along on a tide of good feeling and well-wishing. It's a joy, from start to finish.

Raven-1969 "Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a death like slumber, must always create a sunshine," wrote Hawthorne "filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outside world." So it is that the habitually dark skies of Scotland open to the sun. A trio of diverse highlander couples, both experienced and not, struggle to deal with fears and passions stirred up by past loves, the urge to see the world before settling down, war and questions about whether we ever truly know someone. Singing and dancing to the music of the Proclaimers aids in working these questions out. The astonishing and effervescent, even if somewhat alarming, scenes of uptight and introverted Scotlanders warbling and writhing in the uncommon sunlight would move even Angela Merkel to spontaneous joy. Chemistry is lacking in the younger couples, yet despite this the film is touching and radiant. Seen at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

fordmodelt Ford OK, I'll admit that I always loved the Proclaimers, and dragged my husband off to see this movie knowing that some of their songs were included. After 20 minutes, I'd reached the uncomfortable realisation that this was a full-on musical with a song (and often a dance) number every 5 to 10 minutes. Hubby doesn't like musicals so I didn't know how he was going to survive this one. As it turned out, the movie was a lot of fun, well acted, and with 3 good story lines without predictable endings. And the music was great. Plus there was a cameo of the Proclaimers themselves (coming out of a pub doorway early in the film as the 2 soldier boys sing their way back home). This movie is a good example of what can be done on a low budget if it has a decent script and good actors.

stephen_mac I'd like to find something negative to write about this film but the truth is that from those dramatic opening moments of the atmospheric crescendo that is Sky Takes the Soul, you just know that this is going to be a good movie.Scratch that, it's going to be great movie!Now I have to declare a vested interest here in being an ex-pat Scot, however being a Glaswegian watching a movie set in Edinburgh you have to go a long way to impress me, but if I say - and if you quote me I'll deny it - that even I found myself falling in love with the majesty of Auld Reekie, then it certainly is impressive. As a vehicle for the Scottish tourism industry this is a great advert, from the Edinburgh Acropolis, to the castle itself, to the beautiful views of the water of the Firth of Forth to Princes Park and to night time shots of the illuminated Athens of the North, this is the Scottish Capital at its majestic best. After 19 years abroad, I finally found something to make me homesick.And at heart, that is what Sunshine on Leith really is, a love story set to the euphoric lyrical poetry of The Proclaimers, full of the joys and pains of life. Centring on the return home of two Scottish soldiers, best pals, from the war in Afghanistan, Sunshine on Leith deals with their challenges in making new lives and loves, its about their families, the challenges of growing older and maintaining excitement in life or at the younger spectrum, of deciding on who you are, who you want to be and finding out that the grass is not always greener but that often you have to find that out for yourself.For most people, there are two alternating states you will find yourself in at all times while watching this movie - laughing or crying. There is very little in between as you accompany Davy (George MacKay) and Ally (Kevin Guthrie) on their return home and the varying highs and lows of day to day life out of the rigid routine of the army, all of which is out of their control.The musical score defies you not to get up in the middle of the theatre and sing or clap along, such is the power of The Proclaimers' catchy tunes and clever insightful lyrics that capture the fears of young and unknown love, the blossoming joys of new relationships, the hurts of rejection and breaking hearts, the challenges of dealing with life in general and so much more. If you're not a fan of The Proclaimers going in, you will be when you come out. It's challenging to remember that the movie was written to the music and not the other way around as the two dovetail so well together.What makes it even harder to resist the toe tapping and humming, the laughing and the crying is that throughout the movie you are left with the sense that the actors themselves were having a great time making it, such is their own passion coming through in their roles. There are no big names to sell this movie as we've seen in other recent big budget musicals, just good solid acting, and perhaps it is the absence of any big names and egos helps along the chemistry on screen between the characters (not all of whom are Scottish it must be pointed out, not that one would know from their excellent accents).There are some great dance scenes throughout and watching Scotsmen dancing away with pint glasses in hand is a real representation of the local life and knowing that makes it all the more fun to watch. Resist if you can, the spirited rendition of "Over and Done With" or the mocking fun of the boys singing "Let's Get Married" in the middle of the pub while watching the football, let alone the progressive dancing through the National Art Gallery to the accompanying "Should Have Been Loved".There are some great moments throughout the movie that if unprepared for can be missed so brush up on what Charlie and Craig Reid (the twin brothers who are The Proclaimers) look like now, otherwise you may miss their cameo appearance early on in the movie which is funny indeed. Tribute is paid of course to Hibs, the Reid brothers' favourite football team and Leith local side. There are the in-jokes of the Scots between the civilised east of Edinburgh and the wild wests of Glasgow, just as much as there are the jibes about the Scottish rivalries with the English and England in general.Stand out moments must include the spectacular backdrop view from the windows while protagonists Davy and love interest Yvonne ardently sing the heartfelt "Then I Met You" quite literally at each other. Equally so, it is moving to finally see "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" returned to it's rightful place as an eloquent love song rather than a novelty of oh so many Friday night pub scenes and karaoke bars. And watch out for the charms of "wee" John Spence playing Ally's young nephew "Brendan" who steals the spotlight in his few scenes with his cheek and charms.Sunshine on Leith is the feel good movie you will want, nay "need" to see over and over again and each and every time you will laugh and cry just as much as the first time!