Scotland, Pa. (2001)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Billy Morrissette

Writers:

William Shakespeare (play)
Billy Morrissette (written by)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

What if the McBeths were alive in '75?

Plot:

Joe McBeth is a hard-working but unambitious doofus who toils at a hamburger stand alongside his wife Pat...

Plot Keywords:

Restaurant | Pennsylvania | Macbeth | Stupidity | Family Business

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

James LeGros	...	Joe 'Mac' McBeth
Maura Tierney	...	Pat McBeth
Christopher Walken	...	Lieutenant McDuff
Kevin Corrigan	...	Anthony 'Banko' Banconi
James Rebhorn	...	Norm Duncan, Owner Duncan's Cafe
Tom Guiry	...	Malcolm Duncan (as Thomas Guiry)
Amy Smart	...	Stacy (Hippie #1)
Timothy 'Speed' Levitch	...	Hector (Hippie #2)
Andy Dick	...	Jesse (Hippie #3)
Geoff Dunsworth	...	Donald Duncan
Josh Pais	...	Douglas McKenna, Manager who gets fired for embezzlement
Reed Rudy	...	Kevin 'Tanman' McKane
John Cariani	...	Ed the 'not-too-bright' Cop
David Wike	...	Jimmy McMann
Nicola Lipman	...	Mrs. Lenox, Duncan's Waitress

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some nudity, drug content and brief violence.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Company:

Abandon Pictures

Trivia:

According to director Billy Morrissette (on the DVD commentary), Pat McBeth's line "Fuck! Fuck! Fuckity-fuck!" was written into the script because star (and Morrissette's wife at the time), Maura Tierney yelled that once when he startled her.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning of the movie, Pat's "perfect" soft ice cream cone is half as tall and not nearly as shapely when she pulls it from the machine as when she lifts it up to show Doug.

Quotes:

McDuff: You really think that I would let Ed keep bullets in his gun?

Movie Connections:

References Godspell: A Musical Based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew (1973)

Soundtrack:

Wilkommen

A Black Comic Gem - Disturbing and Hilarious

This is some of the most fun I've had watching a movie. I took it as a blind recommendation and it has become one of my favorite comedies in years.

Using Shakespeare's Macbeth as his source, former actor Billy Morrissette makes (I believe) his feature film debut as an actor with this brilliantly dark (I know, I'm oxymoronic) comedy.

Set in the depressed town of Scotland, Pennsylvania circa 1973, Morrissette turns Shakespeare's original story about a power hungry wife pushing her too contemplative husband into a bloody post-regicide reign into a tale of an over ambitious wife pushing her dullard husband into murder to take over a fast food joint. Morrissette had obvious fun playing with the characters names and using them to even propel the story. There is of course our anti-hero/heroine Joe "Mac" and his wife Pat - the McBeth's, both of whom work for Duncan, the owner of (what else) a donut shop. Through shrewd manipulation Pat pushes. There's also Lt. McDuff (Christopher Walken seemingly having more fun than he has in anything I can recall him in); Banquo - becomes Banco, and Shakespeare's witches/weird sisters become an unholy trio of drugged out hippies (deliciously played by Andy Dick, Amy Smart and Tim Levitch.

Acting honors go all the way around but James LeGros and Maura Tierney get special mention as the unholy couple. LeGros captures the perfect 70's dullard, small time dreams, clueless and nearly almost ruining everything. He's a delight to watch. Ms. Tierney - an actress who singlehandedly kept me from ever watching E.R. nearly shocked the life out of me by actually proving to be an amazing actress. If for no other reason (but thank God there are plenty of 'em) the movie would be worth watching for Tierney's most delicious, crazed performance of the film. Her transparent subtlety is almost menacing and her greedy ambition is mouthwateringly contagious - you want her to get away with everything.

I can't recommend this movie enough! Hilarious and disturbing Scotland, Pa. is a joy!