The Angels' Share
| The Angels' Share | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ken Loach |
| Written by | Paul Laverty |
| Produced by | Rebecca O'Brien |
| Starring | Paul Brannigan John Henshaw William Ruane Gary Maitland |
| Cinematography | Robbie Ryan |
| Edited by | Jonathan Morris |
| Music by | George Fenton |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Entertainment One |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 106 minutes |
| Countries | Scotland Belgium Italy |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $6,687,338[1] |
The Angels' Share is a Scottish comedy-drama film directed by Ken Loach, starring Paul Brannigan, John Henshaw, William Ruane, Gary Maitland, Jasmin Riggins, and Siobhan Reilly. It tells the story of a young Glaswegian father who narrowly avoids a prison sentence. He is determined to turn over a new leaf and when he and his friends from the same community payback group visit a whisky distillery, a route to a new life becomes apparent.[2]
Plot
In the opening scenes, the protagonists are sentenced to hours of community service. During his first community service session Robbie (Paul Brannigan), under the guidance of Harry (John Henshaw), is interrupted and taken to the hospital by Harry as his girlfriend, Leonie (Siobhan Reilly), has gone into labour. At the hospital Robbie is assaulted by two of his girlfriend's uncles. Harry takes Robbie back to his house, where Leonie calls to tell Robbie that his son, Luke, has been born. Harry insists that he and Robbie celebrate, and brings out a vintage whisky.
Harry takes the group to a distillery as a reward for their good behaviour, where they learn what "the angels' share" is. Afterwards, the tour guide gives them each a dram of whisky and asks them to smell it, and Robbie is complimented on his ability to identify flavours. At the next community service session, Harry approaches Robbie and asks if he'd like to come to a whisky tasting session in Edinburgh. Robbie, in turn, invites the other members of the group, where they learn about a cask of priceless whisky, the "Malt Mill", set to go on auction soon, and Robbie is passed a card by a whisky collector, Thaddeus (Roger Allam).
After they leave, Mo (Jasmin Riggins) reveals she spotted and stole documents detailing the warehouse in which the "Malt Mill" is kept. Robbie agrees to meet with a victim of his former violent crimes, Anthony (Roderick Cowie) recollects the attack. After realising that he can't continue living under threat of assault on himself and his family, he begins planning to steal the Malt Mill, with his community service partners. They secure an invitation to the tasting and auction during which Robbie hides in the warehouse overnight and covertly witnesses Thaddeus attempting to bribe Angus Dobie (David Goodall) into selling him some of the whisky before the cask goes on auction. Dobie refuses and the two leave, after which Robbie siphons some whisky from the cask into empty Irn Bru bottles and then tops it up with cheaper whisky from an adjacent cask. At the auction, the group see Thaddeus outbid by an American, who tastes the cask, and is apparently happy with the slightly diluted blend.
Afterwards, Robbie approaches Thaddeus and negotiates a sale of three bottles for £250,000. They plan to make the exchange in Glasgow, and so begin the trek home, but inadvertently break two of their four bottles during an encounter with the police. Robbie gets furious, but goes ahead with meeting Thaddeus, and negotiates a sale for £100,000 and a permanent job far away from Glasgow. Robbie reveals to his friends, that he didn't sell two bottles, but one. The scene cuts to show Harry coming home to find a bottle of Irn Bru sitting on his kitchen table next to an open window, with a note thanking him and presenting his "angels' share" next to a newspaper piece showing a photo of the payback group next to the cask. He smells the bottle and rejoices at the Malt Mill inside.
In the final scene, we see Robbie and Leonie leave for Stirling in an immaculate old Volkswagen Type 2, having made temporary goodbyes to the rest of the group. After they leave, the rest of the group resolve to go get wasted. The film ends with The Proclaimers' "500 Miles" playing.
Cast
- Paul Brannigan as Robbie
- John Henshaw as Harry
- Gary Maitland as Albert
- Jasmin Riggins as Mo
- William Ruane as Rhino
- Roger Allam as Thaddeus
- David Goodall as Dobie
- Siobhan Reilly as Leonie
- Roderick Cowie as Anthony
- Scott Kyle as Clancy
- Alison McGinnes as Anthony's Mother
- Ford Kiernan as Train Station Announcer
Production
The film was produced by Sixteen Films, Why Not Productions and Wild Bunch. It was backed financially by the BFI, Les Films du Fleuve, Urania and France 2 Cinéma.[2] Filming in Glasgow and Edinburgh started 25 April 2011.[3]
Release
The film competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival[4][5] and Loach won the Jury Prize.[6] It is Loach's 11th film in 31 years to compete at the French festival.[7] Entertainment One have acquired the distribution rights for the United Kingdom and Ireland. The film went on general release on 1 June.[2]
Critical reception
The Angel's Share has been met with critical acclaim. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 93% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on a sample of only 28 reviews, with a rating average of 7.2 out of 10.[8] The film was nominated for the Magritte Award for Best Foreign Co-Production.[9]
Home media
Entertainment One released The Angel's Share on Blu-ray and DVD on September 24, 2012 in the United Kingdom.[10]
See also
References
- ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/intl/?page=&country=00&wk=2012W26&id=_fTHEANGELSSHARE01
- ^ a b c Lodderhose, Diana (2011-04-21). "eOne nabs Loach's 'Angel's Share'". Variety. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ^ "The Angels' Share". Screenbase. Screen International. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ^ "2012 Official Selection". Cannes. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
- ^ "Cannes Film Festival 2012 line-up announced". timeout. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
- ^ "Awards 2012". Cannes. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
- ^ Gritten, David (2012-04-19). "Why the Cannes Film Festival 2012 competition looks certain to intrigue". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
- ^ The Angel's Share, Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ "Les nominés aux Magritte du cinéma sont connus". La Libre Belgique (in French). January 10, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
- ^ http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=678436