Rough, tough but brilliant

After the dark films from the Scots Bill Douglas and Lynne Ramsay, to say nothing of Danny Boyle's Trainspotting and Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen, one despairs of ever seeing a moderately cheerful Scottish childhood on screen.

Only Bill Forsyth has managed to raise a smile on the way to adulthood with That Sinking Feeling and Gregory's Girl. Here is yet another version of youthful despair.

But this impressive debut from writer/director Richard Jobson, set in Edinburgh, also dares to celebrate the healing power of love.

The hero is Kevin McKidd's Frankie, first seen as a boy watching the father he worships fall into alcoholic decay and sexual faithlessness. As a young adult, the only chance of Frankie belonging anywhere is as a predatory gang member — even with two lovers (first Laura Fraser, then Susan Lynch) trying to heal him, it takes a long time before he can accept a decent relationship.

The film, though equipped with a commentary from Frankie that is at times a little self-conscious and sometimes unnecessary when the visual shorthand is so good, bows to Wong Kar-Wai, Jobson's favourite director.

It is romantic without being sentimental, and poetic without being arch. Above all, McKidd's performance holds it together very well.

This isn't just a rough, tough piece of Scots realism. It is a properly imaginative effort, uneven perhaps and lacking the grace of much humour, but still one of the best British films of the year.

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Garfield: The Movie

Cert U, 81 mins

Bill Murray voices the famous comic-strip cat who gets mad at the dog his owner adopts and, having chased him away, is guilty enough to go to his aid in the big city.

The computer- generated imagery is no great shakes and, try as he may, Murray can't prevent a slight case of mange pervading.

But at least Peter Hewitt's film lasts only 81 minutes, so the kids won't get too impatient. They might even like it.