Whisky Galore! (2016) | Film review - A wee drop of disappointment

(Image credit: © Whisky Galore Movie Ltd / 201)

More than a wee drop.

Those canny Hebridean islanders are still running rings round the wartime authorities in this remake of the vintage Ealing comedy about a cargo of shipwrecked whisky, but while Alexander Mackendrick’s 1949 movie is still fondly remembered as a classic, the new Whisky Galore! is all too forgettable.

It isn’t absolutely terrible. There’s nothing wrong with the cast, which includes Gregor Fisher as the island’s grumpy postmaster, Naomi Battrick and Ellie Kendrick as his feisty daughters, and Eddie Izzard as the pompous English captain in charge of the local Home Guard. And the cinematography has a pleasingly nostalgic glow. But the magic of the original is definitely missing.

Certificate PG. Runtime 98 mins. Director Gillies MacKinnon

Whisky Galore! available on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Arrow Films.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzY3b90FLpY

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A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.