Review of Filth (2013) by Alessandro S — 07 Feb 2014

James McAvoy consistently puts out better than average films compared to the kind of blockbusters Americans are accustomed to seeing in the theaters these days. Whether it's an American film or a Scottish film or an English film, McAvoy excels for his ability even when the script sometimes goes off the rails.

I've reviewed a good handful of his films, Filth being the weirdest but most transparent. It's a pretty decent take at the good cop turned bad cop because of the drugs and sex and debauchery. The most recent who comes to mind is Nicolas Cage from his film set in New Orleans a few years ago.

Sometimes, the Scottish accents were so thick it was a bit difficult to understand, but context clues easily placed you back in the fold. The story is actually engaging. One cop trying to oust 5 other cops from a promotion all the while he's getting turned on in the process.

It just wasn't, tight knit. The beginning led you to believe we'd get a bit more background and acting from some of the supporting cast, but McAvoy is clearly the focus through thick and thin.

Without so much a look at the actual cases he has to solve compared to his coworkers he's trying to beat, Filth doesn't keep things together enough toward the end. I was a bit confused through the final 20 minutes having to actually go back and see why the change in character was warranted.

If you're up for a Scottish art house flick with lots of foul language and a decent amount of that good old dark humor from across the pond, you'll be intrigued.