Having enjoyed Brian Cox from 'As You Like it' in the Sixties to 'Succession' today, I was pre-conditioned to like this tale of a hard Dundee childhood followed by acting success. Plenty of entertaining anecdotes and put-downs, including Gielgud and McKellen, are balanced by heroes like Fulton Mackay and Paul Scofield, although there is also rather too much routine luvvie praise. The most appealing aspects are his candour and his dedication to the craft of acting. Directors who get between the actor and the text get a deserved roasting.
(Tony Pratt - bwl 103 Winter 2022 ) |
