Plunkett & Macleane Reviews

For many years, I really wanted to watch this flick but, to be honest, I actually forgot why I was so eager to check it out. Was it because it was starring the lovely (especially at the time) Liv Tyler? Anyway, this movie was a rather unlikely 'Trainspotting' reunion starring both Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle and it could have been pretty awesome to have also Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremmer to complete their gang. By the way, I have noticed that on all the promotional material they made us believe that Liv Tyler was actually one of these outlaws but she had nothing to do with them. Anyway, to be honest, I had a rather hard time to care about the whole thing. I mean, I did like the characters, the filthy language, even the anachronic soundtrack didn’t bother me so the whole thing had some potential but, unfortunately, the story was actually rather weak. I mean, Jake Scott, son of the mighty Ridley Scott, tried with his directing debut to cover up this obvious weakness by adding some loud and fancy stuff all other the place but it didn’t really work, I'm afraid. To conclude, I think I'm being rather generous with my rating here, but somehow, I still think it is worth a look though.

A modern take on the Highwayman robbery movies of old. Set in 18th Century England, the movie introduces us to Maclean, a drunkard gentleman who has fallen on hard times, and Plunkett, a bankrupt apothecary who wants to go to America and start a new life. They decide to join forces and rob the rich, soon capturing the imagination of society as well as the attention of authorities.

Plunkett and Macleane's concept is a good and interesting one but the execution is such a let down. I won't deny that it's a pretty movie - the costumes and sets are all so lovely. Robert Carlyle and Jonny Lee Miller do decent enough job with the less that great material that they were given though Alan Cumming as the outlandish Earl of Rochester is just fantastic and completely steals the show with his one-liners. Liv Tyler as Lady Rebecca was unnecessary - I found the whole romance between her and Macleane to be wholly unnecesary.

The movie tries to be ironic with its anachronistic use of modern/techno music in a period film and like the movie its success is uneven. The use of techno music in the ballroom scene is great but in others it's just jarring and distracts you from what's happening on-screen.

The ultimate problem with this movie is that the story just dragged on and on without properly character development. The antagonistic relationship between Plunkett and Macleane that becomes friendship at the end is not showed on screen. If the director had spent less time setting up the story in the beginning and focusing more on the action/adventure of them being highwaymen I would have been more satisfied.