Almost a year after closing last year's dreary Edinburgh International Film Festival, the remake of Whisky Galore! arrives in Scottish cinemas with relatively little fanfare. That's hardly surprising. It's a pretty pointless retread, gentle to the point of being soporific, and a waste of a wonderful cast. Revolving around the efforts of a group of wily Scottish islanders to liberate crates of whisky from a shipwrecked trawler during a wartime drought, the 1949 original - directed by Alexander Mackendrick and based on the novel by Compton Mackenzie - has become a fascinating snapshot of the period, something that elevates its appeal beyond simple nostalgia. Thats something that could have liberated this Eddie Izzard-starring remake; but instead it feels like a parody of its inspiration. Director Gillies MacKinnon may have resisted the urge to turn it into a straight-up caper film, but whatever merits veteran Scottish screenwriter Peter McDougall's script might have had on the page it has become wearisome and whimsical on screen, dulled by characters grappling with low-stakes personal dilemmas that seem hopelessly old-fashioned when viewed from a contemporary perspective.

Whisky Galore review

Gillies Mackinnon has recreated the cosy warmth of the original and the fictional Todday looks delightful. But writer Peter McDougall shows a lack of faith in his story by adding an entirely superfluous and inexplicable sub-plot about the ship carrying a briefcase with indiscreet love letters from Edward VIII to Wallis Simpson.