JoeMiddletonAlba

A gender swapped version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels probably sounded like a good idea but the execution of this film is dreadful. I only got half way through before I had to stop watching as it was utterly awful. Avoid!

Redford and Farrow was ultimately a much more satisfactory combination than the two leads in this remake.

DiCaprio is quite good as the driven Gatsby but Mulligan does not have the charisma or incredible beauty of Farrow. This means that the obsession of Gatsby for Mulligan's character seems rather unlikely to say the least.

The party scenes while undoubtedly visually impressive are ultimately far too overblown and again add a sense of unreality to the story. Tobey Maguire was unremarkable and not particularly sympathetic which again did not help.

It isn't a bad film, the essential storyline still holds some interest and the plot is excellent (as it should be given the source material) but the above flaws prevented the film from being anything special.

This version suggests that certain films are better left alone. The Redford Gatsby was already superb and there was no need to do it again.

This powerful 1995 film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won an incredible 5 Oscars. It is wholly detested by a great many little Britons who much preferred it when Wallace's patriotic actions were not known to a massive world wide audience! Endless dramas about their pretender Elizabeth I of England are much preferred by 'British' filmmakers. Bruce and Wallace were largely ignored by them until Mel Gibson and Randall Wallace made this cracker.

The huge monument to William Wallace in Stirling shows just how much his memory means to all Scots.

Despite some historical inaccuracies (and although there are a few glaring ones the film definitely gets his horrific martyr's death right) this film definitely did catch the spirit of the fight for Scotland's freedom and independence.

This fight will hopefully end in final victory next year (2014) when Scots will vote on the future of the British union for the first time in 300 years in the Scottish independence referendum which is being organised by our elected SNP Government.