Robert the Bruce (2019)

The story of the nobleman-turned-outlaw hero who was crowned king of Scots in the 14th century.

Director:

Richard Gray

Writers:

Eric Belgau, Angus Macfadyen

Stars:

Angus Macfadyen, Diarmaid Murtagh, Jared Harris

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Angus Macfadyen	...	Robert the Bruce
Diarmaid Murtagh	...	James Douglas
Jared Harris	...	John Comyn
Stephen Murphy	...	Black Comyn
Gabriel Bateman	...	Scot
Anna Hutchison	...	Morag
Talitha Eliana Bateman	...	Iver (as Talitha Bateman)
Brandon Lessard	...	Carney
Judah Nelson	...	Hamish
Patrick Fugit	...	Will
Nick Farnell	...	Thomas
Will Carlson	...	Michael
Michael Petry	...	Friar
Mhairi Calvey	...	Elizabeth de Burgh
Anthony J. Sharpe	...	Town Crier (as Anthony Sharpe)

Storyline

The story of the nobleman-turned-outlaw hero who was crowned king of Scots in the 14th century.

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Plot Keywords:

scotland | rebellion | 14th century | year 1306 | film begins with text | 

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Taglines:

He Empowered a People, He Fought for Freedom, To Defy An Empire.

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Genres:

Action | History

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The film takes place after Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scotland following William Wallace's torture and execution.

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Goofs

At the start of the film, The Bruce hands over his sword and is searched, before entering a church for a meeting, where he has to defend himself without his sword. But, when he walks into the church there are two shots where he clearly has his sword with him again in the scabbard.

User Reviews

50 Gold Pieces for more action and less existential crisis.

First thing to say is with Braveheart still casting a long shadow over this period in Scotland's history and the more recent Outlaw King proving an entertaining if flawed take on The Bruce, the writers of this had a decision to make.

Clearly the decision to focus on Robert the Bruce's months in hiding was as much a financial decision as any artistic one. With the filming taking place in Montana, a largely unknown non Scottish cast and a novice director the budget constraints were more than apparent on screen.

This is not necessarily a barrier to making a watchable film but the idea that his months in hiding would make for an entertaining two hours was naive at best.

What we see is a fairly well worn tale of wounded hero taken in by noble peasant family until fit to return to his feet.

The young cast all perform well as does the mother Morag despite the limitations of the script but one speech in particular from the daughter is so maudlin it nearly ruins her entire performance.

Along with the stock medieval goons and villains pursuing The Bruce for the bounty on his head, the wonky sometimes laughable accents and a liberty taking retelling of The Bruce's altercation with John Comyn, the film casts The Bruce as a Taciturn almost mute figure when he is on screen.

This is meant to convey inner turmoil obviously but it unfortunately turns the film into a giant slog. Two hours feel like three and when do get some action at the end it is like sn Oasis in the desert. Even though it is a fairly standard battle sequence.

There are dozens of 10/10 reviews for this film here. And while I can't pretend to know exactly why they chose to score it this highly I can take a pretty good guess.

Unlike my fellow Yes voters I have to be honest. This just wasn't very good and was fatally flawed from the get go with the decision to include no real moments of spectacle.

If you're after a film about The Bruce then Outlaw King is still the best one out there. Just watch that.

Details

Official Sites:

Production Company

Country:

USA Australia UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 June 2019 (UK)

Also Known As:

Robert the Bruce

Filming Locations:

Scotland, UK

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$23,425

Company Credits

Production Co:

Emerald Way Productions, Ponderosa Films, Screen Media Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1