The story of a group of reprobates and their kind-hearted probation officer who happens to have a soft spot for whiskey-high quality Scotch Whiskey. Our hero is a young thug who nearly beat a man to death for no good reason, has gotten his girlfriend pregnant, and has a surprisingly good nose for single malts.
The Probation Officer takes this young fellow under his wing and teaches him to appreciate fine whiskey. They go to tastings and take a tour of a distillery. The rest of the community service crew comes along for the ride, though they clearly lack the skills needed to tell a 35 year old single malt from a bottle of rotgut.
The story quickly winds around to the discovery of a very rare cask of whiskey that would sell for a $100,000 a bottle. Our group of petty thieves find this opportunity too much of a temptation to resist and they promptly come up with a plan to steal the liquid gold before it can go up for auction.
The twists and turns of the tale are the best part. I could have lived without a few of the more violent scenes near the beginning, but you have to set the tone of desperation somehow. There is also a lot foul language and a curious bit of business with a couple of policemen and some kilts.
The Angel’s Share stars a group of actors that are mostly unknown to me, though a couple of the older faces were familiar. I love British films, but even I had trouble following what was being said in the bewildering array of heavy and near incomprehensible dialects. Not to mention that most of these folks are thick as shite and never use proper English anyway.
The Angel’s Share was a great movie. Lots of suspense, lots of laughs, and a good deal of drama as well.
