People are voting emotionally.

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Some of the negative reviewers on here need to return to playing with their i-phones, because only that will take them back to a plastic world that simply doesn't get surreal black comedy. Surreal - ever heard of the word? And all you lot can say is that the plot is "unlikely"! Yes, surreal. That is what Barney Thomson is. And black comedy. You can feel it coming right from the start, the opening an essay in drabness and dreariness which would sit well in a Python sketch, and just as in one of those, you know something is about to leap out and grab you, but you have no idea what. Something totally unexpected. And just as nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, neither does anyone expect what Barney is about to do, and then nobody could possibly expect what his mother is about to do, and has indeed been doing for some time. It is an absolute riot, and my wife and I were falling off our seats with laughter. Brilliant! 10/10

Being Scottish, and being from Glasgow, I had to see this movie.It has the feel of a 'modern sweeney todd', in this case a bumbling and hapless accidental sweeney todd, who somehow spontaneously kills people, often just by touching them. The strange accidents that result in the deaths of his co-workers are definitely some of the least believable murders I have ever seen.All of this accomplished by Hollywood's 'New Favorite Scottish Actor', - Robert Carlyle, Bobby, who appears to be the go-to guy for a Scottish character lately (Ewan Mcgregor sighs and thanks him)Saving the day is Emma Thompson, as usual. I would rate this role by Emma as Oscar worthy and one of her best. She absolutely NAILS the old Glasgow biddy as Bobby's ma, with a wee bit o spark left in-er, and the laughs are frequent every time she is on screen and pulling off a flawless guttural lower-class Glaswegian accent.The movie begins as a dark comedy, with bumbling inspectors in not so hot pursuit of a serial killer in Glasgow that is chopping up it's victims and mailing them to loved ones. As our hapless and clutsy barber, who just seems to get people killed by accident but is not the serial killer, slowly clues in to the horror that the real killer may be his own mother, the truth about how little his mother loves him and his dubious parentage take the movie down a real depressingly dark side road we really didn't need. At this point we just want to vomit along with Bobby, and the ending has little uplift to our depressed hearts.This movie could have been so much more, the Scottish version of 'Hot Fuzz' for example. But instead of going for the laughs, like a true Glasgow bully, it smashed the beer bottle and came at us to give us a 'Glasgow Grin'. Gutted after watching this. Gutted.

Firstly, I have immense high regard for the four principal actors in this film; namely, Robert Carlyle, Ray Winstone, Tom Courtennay and Emma Thompson. Their resumes' over the years have been the envy of any aspiring actor/actress. That said, why on earth did they subscribe to this dire movie?Granted Tom Courtenay played the irascible Chief Superintendent well but I'm getting a little tired that the boss is always depicted this way. The world over film makers do the same thing, wouldn't it be refreshing if the boss was portrayed as a kind, supportive human being for once? Emma Thompson did well taking off the Glaswegian accent, Ray Winstone did well playing Ray Winstone and Robert Carlyle was just OK playing the guy where life just isn't being nice to him.For me the film lacked direction and fell between two stools, it wasn't particularly funny so at best was a very poor comedy and it certainly wasn't dark humour, so it basically fell short on all counts.Do not be seduced by the cast like I had been. Avoid.

This is a funny noir comedy, well made with an excellent cast. I really like Carlyle so I could not be completely impartial.It is a film that gives you some laughs, but it does not let you to yell to miracle. I don't see it as a cult movie (like could be "The Full Monty" to me) as I have read here in the comments. It needed something more.The actors and the dialogue are the masters here, but also the scenery, the photograph is taken care of. It is well packaged but the plot is not very thorough, it might have been better use the element of surprise and a few more dialog jokes would not hurt at all too. It is not very exciting and it feel like a little flat.In any case, the movie has managed to put a smile on my face from beginning to end giving me a few very good laugh.A good debut for Carlyle as a director with some space for improvement.It should be 7/10 to me.