Movie Reviews

Young Adam

9 July 2005

Ewan McGregor must have jumped at the chance to make Young Adam. After Down with Love and the Star Wars films, he doubtless wanted to remind audiences that, yes, he can still act. Young Adam gives us little opportunity to be distracted by his good looks or the glossy production. This is McGregor trying desperately to be unglamorous – and succeeding.

            In gritty, 1950s Glasgow, two bargemen, Joe (McGregor) and Les (Peter Mullan), fish a young woman’s corpse from the river. They seem strangely unaffected by this, perhaps because their world is already so gloomy. Joe escapes through a torrid affair with Les’s despondent wife, Ella (Tilda Swinton, looking deliberately plain and miserable).

            We soon discover that Joe knows more about the corpse than he reveals. In numerous flashbacks, we find out about Joe’s past, including his stormy relationship with Cathie (Emily Mortimer). Ewan’s no Jedi Knight any more!

            The crime sets itself up for an intriguing series of mysteries and revelations. But while the final moments are gripping, most of the film moves slowly, as the plot makes way for numerous sex scenes. Sadly, this isn’t as much fun as it sounds. In keeping with the film’s grittiness, the sex is often kinky, but never alluring, which makes most of it rather tedious. OK, we get the point, Joe has too much sex! It reaches a point where, whenever a new female character is introduced, we can safely assume that we will see him making love to her. Imagine a Scottish Alvin Purple, without the humour.

            Young Adam, released in the UK two years ago, impressed the critics. The director, newcomer David Mackenzie, was showered in awards for successfully recreating the downbeat air of Alexander Trocchi’s novel. Fewer awards went to McGregor, which is a shame, because he makes it watchable. In the final half-hour, he evokes a man driven almost round the bend by his guilt and fear – and he does it almost completely with facial expressions. The mistakes he has made, the injustice he has caused, can be seen in his haunted face. This is a painful feel-bad film, but it’s full of utterly convincing performances, and a lead actor who hasn’t been this good since Trainspotting.

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