For many years, I’ve belonged to a film club that sees movies before they are released.  The fun is that I don’t know what I am going to see until I get to the theater and even then I get a flyer with the film name, a photo and the cast listing – less than you know at a film festival. A film festival booklet will at least summarize the film so you know if you want to see it or not.  Here it’s always a guess. We were told that the film received a Jury Prize at Cannes (promising) and would be released soon. The film was The Angels’ Share by Ken Loach (you can watch the trailer here)

So the lights go down and the movie starts. The film is set in Scotland (and is subtitled) and is about unlikely people thrown together to perform community service for their crimes.  From the motley crew assembled, you know this will be a comedy and due to the circumstances (community service) there will likely be redemption involved.  How we get there is what makes the film and comedy so rewarding.  Most films follow a formula, this is no different, yet this road to redemption involves Scotland and whisky.  As the characters navigate the cities of Scotland and the lush, green countrysides, I was thinking “when was I last in Scotland?” and “I should go visit soon”. With bagpipes, kilts and whisky, Scottish heritage was being showcased in the film.

On my Turkey/Greece cruise, I met Ken Hanley.  Ken and his wife were from Scotland which based on the accents I would have known but seeing Ken in his plaid kilt for the entire cruise was a dead giveaway.  Ken is a whisky ambassador and tour guide as well as a hockey fan (yes, a NHL fan – he and his wife travel to the US to go to hockey games as a vacation – I loved them even more). He regaled me with stories of whiskey and a few of his stories played out in the film (I had my own inside laughs).  The whole cruise ship knew Ken (hard to miss a pensioner in a plaid kilt in Turkey and Greece) as he represented Scotland for the week. God bless his wife, she was a good sport when we all asked about the kilt (she obviously gets this query all the time). After seeing the film, I felt like I should give him a ring and arrange my tours and tastings.

There haven’t been too many movies, for me, in which the country or city played such a central character in a film that it transported me there, eager to visit and experience it.  “Before Sunrise” had Vienna, its sequel “Before Sunset” had Paris and “The Descendants” introduced me to Hawaii.  I’m adding the Angels’ Share to this list now.

Sadly, this independent film was in and out of the theaters quickly making way for ten screens of some action blockbuster.  The DVD release date is August 13th so add it to your Netflix queue now.  When it arrives, pour yourself a bit of whisky and prepare for a fun film and then look to see how many miles you need to visit because you will want to visit…..and I know a guy who will be more than happy in his kilt to show you around.