Scottish Mussel

This is a light "feel good" romantic comedy that's fun to watch and warm-hearted. Plotwise it follows the boy meets girl, boy screws up, boy seeks redemption arc very effectively.

The pacing is perfect, and overall the acting is good with the notable exception of the odd American accent for boy's love rival. Why he has to be American is never really evident, although the character is pretty unbelievable to begin with, so being a foreigner may be the only reason? There are also a lot of characters and again it's not clear why that's necessary, but those are the only flaws. Harry Enfield is particularly well cast as the food truck owning mentor, and running mollusc jokes are well played.

This is not a movie with any serious pretensions and I really don't see why the first reviewer here has to spill so much bile over it. It's not going to win any Oscars and it isn't Serious Cinema (TM) -- did I mention it's fun and entertaining, in addition to being well made and edited? It's not awful, it's just a mostly well-executed light- hearted rom com.

As a Scot, many of the non-native attempts at Scottish accents were challenging at first (for my money Russell Kane's was the best). Then I just tried to enjoy the film and not worry about how the casting came about as the non-Scottish cast are all enjoyable screen presences.

With that caveat, enjoying the film was easy. The accents improved as the movie progressed and the character dynamics were very sweet.

The location scout(s) did a great job and, as a Scot, the whole ceilidh idea was entirely believable. This is not the tab A into slot B stereotypical "shortbread tin" depiction of Scotland that some other reviews have suggested but if you're not from Scotland then I suspect you'll enjoy the film even more.

The soundtrack reads as a bit lazy but works great with the film and they've bagged some great tracks from some brilliant singer-songwriters.

Of course it would be nice to have more Scottish talent on screen but I'm glad that the movie exists as it is rather than not having been able to have been made at all.

Talulah Riley's direction is confident and never appears to be vain regarding the character she plays and I look forward to her joining a very long list of great female directors.

Watched this with my husband and we both really enjoyed the film. What's not to like? Beautiful Scottish scenery, a quirky plot and some laugh out loud moments - usually involving Fraser. It's not going to win any awards but it will leave you with a little smile on your face.

I felt compelled to write a review having just watched Scottish Mussel which I was not expecting too enjoy after reading "critics" reviews (all of whom just happen to be male) which makes me suspect this film might be more appreciated by women/girls. But this film is enjoyable, some scenes are excellent and overall it is well worth watching if you sit back relax and go along with the flow. The Scottishness is meant to be exaggerated and I thought it was funny.

I liked the character Fiona, the headmaster/Ms Pringles cameo and Beth and Ritchie were a believable couple. The hypnotherapy scene with the otter was funny. The film got better as it went along and it is definitely romantic and lightheartedly daft. The American character was very funny as was the dippy friend.

This is a nice, clean family film beautifully shot in Scotland. Well done Talulah. Please try again. I can't believe people have written such vicious reviews about your first acting/directing/writing role. And I have no connection with Talulah and hated that film 'St Trinians' she was in starring Russell Brand which seemed to have been written to appeal to dirty old men. If you like that I doubt you'll rate 'Scottish Mussel'.

A bit of an eco romcom set in the Scottish highlands, except the romance is minimal the eco is no more than a plot device. It's a fun movie though with enough laughs to eclipse the thin storyline. The cast are quite charming though, even Joe Thomas and his diabolical attempt at a Scottish accent - which isn't the worst by a long way. Unfortunately Talulah Riley's acting comes across as rigid and forced especially alongside the effortless Compston who breezes through the lightweight script. Some good comic turns from Thomas, Paul Branigan and the supporting cast.