The post-Chariots Of Fire career of Hudson has been dogged by obscurity and noble failures (including Greystoke). This slight tale of an 8 year-old's life (played by newcomer Norman) in post-World War II Scotland is an attempt at something closer to the Chariots mould; same period, same lovingly shot countryside and landed class characters. But with no equivalent of a race to win, and no feeling of transition, this lacks Chariots' focus.
While there are good individual performances (Mastrantonio, Norman) the cast as a whole fail to gel (Firth, as the eccentric father is particularly stilted)and what's left is too disjointed to be engaging.