Stone of Destiny

Dir: Charles Martin Smith (The Snow Walker)
Cast: Charlie Cox, Kate Mara, Stephen McCole, Billy Boyd, Ciaron Kelly, Robert Carlyle, Peter Mullan
Canada/UK, 2009

Seen: February 24, 2009 at the AMC Yonge & Dundas

Reason to see: Canadian! Hard to resist a historical heist film based on Scottish National pride

Being a fan of Canadian film, I've been asked what makes a Canadian film Canadian. It's a tricky question, but then along comes a film like Stone of Destiny (a Canada/UK co-production) and I go "This is a Canadian Film", which may seem odd considering it is set in 1950 Scotland and a heist film. But, it brims of national pride, history and a certain underdog flair that is quite easily translatable to Canadians. The fact that it isn’t set in Canada doesn’t matter – most of us are from somewhere else anyway.

The film is a touching and brave story of a group of students who are willing to go against the odds to restore Scottish pride by attempting to retrieve the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey. The main character Ian Hamilton played by Charlie Cox (Stardust) did a great job of portraying ambition and drive but refreshingly without any meanness. The rag tag group is filled out by Kate Mara, Stephen McCole, Billy Boyd and Ciaron Kelly whom all show class in the strength of their characters. It is the characters who really brought the film to life and what touched me so much, so many times you see heist films where it's all about the goal and who cares who you cheat or trample on to get there. This film isn't like that at all, it's all about spirit, cleverness and of course a little bit of luck.

Well worth watching, it even brought tears to my eyes.

Shannon's Overall View:
I loved it
I'd watch it again, numerous times
I'd widely recommend it

7 minutes of preshow including 3 commercial and 3 previews: Fireflies in the Garden, Adoration, and Crossing Over

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© Shannon Ridler, 2009