Spikeopath On a Clear Day is directed by Gaby Dellal and written by Alex Rose. It stars Peter Mullan, Brenda Blethyn, Jamie Sives, Benedict Wong, Billy Boyd, Sean McGinley, Ron Cook and Jodhi May. Music is scored by Stephen Warbeck and photography by David Johnson. Locations used for the shoot were Glasgow, Isle of Man and Dover.Emotionally shot after being made redundant from his employment at the ship yard, Frank (Mullan) searches desperately for some semblance of hope in his life. Then one day he finds a challenge, a test of endurance to maybe exorcise the demons that haunt his family: Frank aims to swim the English Channel.Following in the wake of great British comedy/dramas such as Billy Elliot, The Full Monty and Brassed Off, On a Clear Day is a perky, yet tender, human interest story. Story may follow a familiar course as regards a protagonist striving against odds for some sort of meaning, redemption, but it's how this particular protagonists actions affect those around him that opens this up as a more fulfilling story. Frank, his wife Joan (Blethyn) and son Rob (Sives) have had a terrible event in their lives, thus the relationship between father and son is desperately strained. Into the mix comes Frank's recent unemployment and the family is in danger of complete implosion, especially Frank who is extremely low on self esteem.Then there are the friends in Frank's life, Eddie (McGinley), Danny (Boyd) and Norman (Cook), and a potential friendship in the making with Chinese Take Away owner Chan (Wong). All men low on confidence, all about to become involved in Frank's goal, his attempt to swim the channel becoming a beacon of hope for all of them. It's this collective feeling of the underdog against life's troubles that gives the film its heart beat; if the film is a heart warmer? Then you will have to watch to find out. It's also very funny, even if much of the comedy is very "laddish", with character names such as Merv the Perv and Mad Bob, it's evident that some of the humour is colourful. While it should be noted that the Scottish accents are likely to be a problem for non residents of the UK and Ireland.Smoothly directed by Dellal and impeccably acted by the cast, this is very much a winner across the board. A film fit to sit alongside those British films mentioned earlier. 8/10

adrian_dungey This was a fantastic film from start to finish. I was a little sceptical about this film when I first read the byline but once I started to watch it I was enthralled to the very end. A film very much in the vein of The Full Month only with less stripping, less swearing and a slightly better storyline. You actually feel Franks pain as he swims the channel and you find yourself willing him on with every breath. A must see and definitely a 10 out of 10. The music fits the film well but is not too overbearing as seems the norm now in so many 'hollywood blockbusters'. The views of Scotland, the choice of locations, the supporting actors, the old pool where Frank practices all add to the enjoyment. So also does his relationship with Chan from the chippie who no one seems to know talks apart from the two words 'fish' and 'chips'. Watch out for the child with what I assume is Cerebral Palsy as he battles his own inner demon as he swims two widths of the pool, a stirring performance and one that deserves credit. The final locations of the cliffs somewhere near Dover, the boat in the channel and the beach in France bring a fantastic end to a fantastic film.

noralee "On a Clear Day" is another of a familiar genre of the plucky bloke who is retired (like "The World's Fastest Indian") and/or unemployed (like "The Full Monty") and/or grieving (like the "Rocket Man" mini-series shown in the U.S. on BBC America) and finds self-esteem by achieving an impossible-seeming, galvanizing goal. Alex Rose's debut script tries hard in an over-long effort to find conflict, personal growth and resolution as inspired by a true story of a laid-off dock worker who decides to swim the English Channel, but it is ultimately not as moving as the best of these can be (David Lynch's atypical "The Straight Story").The film does find a fresh angle in an exploration of masculinity, as Peter Mullan's typical working class guy, who of course takes an opportunity to tell off his boss, is contrasted with his son the house husband (nice to see ruggedly handsome, earnest Sean McGinley who I mostly know from TV series) with a too bland wife but with adorable twin sons. While it was also amusing that this is the second movie I've seen this year where a Scotsman is inexplicably held up as an example of the New Man, as in "Take My Eyes (Te doy mis ojos)", their estrangement seems trumped up over a not very big secret and too drawn out, as is everything in the film, and could just as well be about the difficulties of male-to-male communication, as it finally resolves in a lesson learned for both. There is a lovely small scene with Mullan watching a class of handicapped kids at a swim lesson, but unfortunately that's used for inspiration and not second career options.The impacts his efforts have on his wife and the usual assortment of eccentric friends to be inspired to take parallel steps toward conquering their very personal fears are a heartwarming, if very predictable, side story, and I would have welcomed more of their lives and half-hour less of Mullan's comic training travails (though the funniest lines were already in the trailer). Brenda Blethyn in particular is wonderful as a mature, independently determined wife with a dream to become a bus driver, the opposite of her fluttery "Mrs. Bennett" in "Pride & Prejudice". The cinematography makes great use of the Glasgow street scenes in sharp visual contrast with the white cliffs of Dover and the bluest Channel water I've ever seen in a British film.

chersull_99 I saw this film last night. It's the story of a family who has been suffering for 23 years since the tragic death of a 7-year-old son (brother). There is wonderful chemistry between Frank Redmond (Peter Mullan) and his adult son Rob (James Sives), and the undercurrent, so to speak, between them is relayed to the viewer beautifully. To me the most poignant scene in the movie was where these two characters meet on a bridge, walking in opposite directions. Frank asks his son if he has time for a cup of coffee, and Rob says he does not, and they continue past each other. We then see his son sitting in a café alone drinking a cup of coffee. It's such a subtle exchange, but it portrays perfectly the depth of their ambivalence toward each other. They simply can't think of anything to say, good or bad.Billy Boyd's character seems written just for him, and the scene with his mother is great. Brenda Blethen as always is fabulous, as the doting, "glue-that-holds-the-family-together" mom with a secret that shows she's not the doormat you may imagine.This movie is about relationships, what tears them down and what finally fixes them, and as such there is almost bound to be a slow spot or two, just like there are in real relationships. I'm not sure what could have been done to fix this - all the scenes were necessary, with the exception of the puking scene, which I always dislike and find utterly expendable.Overall it was a good film, and there's the bonus of getting to see a lot of Peter Mullan, not in the acting sense, just in the "seeing a lot of him" sense, which isn't a bad thing. :o)