R0BTRAIN's Bad Ass Cinema: Swords of Doom – Rob Roy

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For some reason I’ve been pondering Hollywood’s tendency to put out two movies with similar subject matter in a short amount of time. Currently, the new Truman Capote biopic Infamous is about to hit screens and it makes me wonder, did two screen writers and studios actually get this idea at the same time? Is it some cosmic coincidence that this keeps happening over and over?

For instance, what was the inspiration for the two Wyatt Earp movies that came out in the mid 90’s? Now I realize this is a story that had already been told over and over, but how did the idea come up again to result in two films so close to one another? I can only feel bad for Lawrence Kasdan and Kevin Costner, when their Wyatt Earp was beaten to the screen by about six months by Tombstone. Not only that, but audiences couldn’t connect in the same way with Kasdan’s film that they did with the crowd pleasing antics of Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer in the previous Earp epic.

1998 seemed to be the year when studios were most fond of piggybacking each other. The Best Picture race from that year featured two sets of copycats. First was the reemergence of the World War II Epic with Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line doing battle. Next was a pair of Elizabethan era films as Shakespeare in Love stole the thunder from a wonderful lead performance from Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth. The weirdest Hollywood standoff had to have been the battle of Asteroid Disaster movies which pitted the bad Deep Impact against the absolutely terrible Armageddon. Again I wonder where these ideas come from and how do they end up happening at the same time?

Perhaps my favorite of these double dips occurred in 1995. That year audiences got two films of the utmost quality about Scottish Heroes. Now while it was Mel Gibson’s Braveheart that captured Oscar glory with its huge battle scenes and big scale drama, those looking for a more intimate picture had found one earlier in the year with another hero wearing a kilt. That same year, Rob Roy hit theaters with critical praise abound, but its thunder was stolen by Gibson in a matter of weeks. Too bad, because looking back now, this intimate portrayal of a man standing alone with just his sword, his wife and his honor, is nearly just as powerful as thousands clashing on a battlefield.

Rob Roy Starring Liam Neeson, Jessica Lange, John Hurt, and Tim Roth.
Directed by Michael Caton-Jones.


With a picture like this, its success rides squarely on its hero. The real Robert Roy MacGregor is a man of legend in Scotland. He was a type of Robin Hood figure who fought against the English noblemen who were the ruling class in Scotland. Unfortunately, information on who the real Robert MacGregor was is rather sketchy. The man’s legend was the basis for 17th Century novelist Sir Walter Scott’s 1817 book Rob Roy, but this account was purely a fictional adventure.

With this movie, the film makers seemed to want to straddle the fence between these two personas of Robert MacGregor. Played by Liam Neeson, you can see how this man could have grown into the myth that he became. We see him dispensing justice to a cattle thief in his introductory scene. This is a man who commands authority and demands loyalty among his subjects. While his duties as the leader of a small clan and the protector of the local cattle may seem small to the upper class who rule the territories, MacGregor treats them with the utmost importance.

But this film isn’t about a stuffy hero who constantly gives rousing speeches. He’s a man who loves his home and family, especially his wife Mary (Jessica Lange). Their love is that rare Hollywood romance that never feels forced. Neeson and Lange bring a lot of eroticism to their scenes, yet never lose a certain sweetness that makes their scenes lively. The film’s sexual scenes with these two never feel gratuitous, and are handled with class by the film’s director, Michael Caton-Jones. Sex is merely an extension of the deep love felt between these two and every scene enforces their affection.

What I love is that all involved are able to make Rob a timeless character. Yes, he wears a kilt and carries a sword, but mostly he has to worry about making his family happy and keeping his people fed. He enjoys simple pleasures, such as drinking and dancing, and does not go looking for trouble. Unfortunately, trouble finds him.

Good villains are never hard to find in a film of this caliber and Rob Roy has a trio of doozies. As the film’s main heavy, Tim Roth’s Archibald Cunningham is one of the scariest villains I’ve ever seen. Not only is he terribly deadly with a sword, but worse is his manner, which is never betrayed by outbursts or anything other than a calculating visage. He murders, rapes, and pillages without remorse or seemingly even emotion. He does these things as if they were owed to him, for being a supposed English gentleman forced to live in the backwaters of Scotland. The irony is, this “gentlemen” is more ruthless than all of the working class that he loathes. With his manners substituting for morals, Archie is an amazing villain and a formidable foe for the film’s hero.

Of course every good henchmen needs a benefactor, and Roth’s Cunningham finds his in John Hurt’s Marquis of Montrose. While his performances in both V for Vendetta and The Proposition were pretty over the top, neither were able to generate the menace he exudes in this film as the Marquis of Montrose. Hurt’s performance is that of a man who controls all he surveys, and that he does. Montrose is an English nobleman, spoilt on his riches and the power he has obtained in Scotland. This is a cold performance from Hurt, unable to hear pleas of mercy and quick to throw a gilded insult.

To hear examples of Montrose’s forked tongue, one must only listen to the scenes between the Marquis and his political rival, Andrew Keir’s Duke of Argyll.

Duke of Argyll: You promised MacGregor amnesty from his debts if he would lay charges against me.
Montrose: So! That is how he cozened you into giving him shelter.
Duke of Argyll: Oh, I know the truth when I hear it.
Montrose: Oh! And here was me, thinking that was God’s gift alone.
Duke of Argyll: Do not think that all sins go unpaid in this life, Montrose.

This is just one example or a score of these scenes with the Marquis dressing down all around him.

Finally, the scheming Killearn, played by the amazing Brian Cox, opens up the film’s main plot. Unlike the other two heavy’s of the picture, Killearn’s intentions are usually kept right under the surface. His intentions are almost always devious, especially when it comes to fooling the Marquis, his employer, and framing MacGregor to take the fall. Indeed, the deceitful Killearn pulls a marvelously cunning scheme by using Archie as his weapon and leaving Mary defiled and our hero, an outlaw.

The film becomes a chase movie to some degree, with MacGregor becoming a sixteenth Century version of The Fugitive, and having to kill to prove his innocence. Thanks be to Michael Caton-Jones for crafting a film that does not appear shy about showing the brutality of the age, with Rob having to kill many to get to the bottom of his false accusation, as well as having to go through many strenuous trials. A particularly stomach churning moment has MacGregor having to hide in the body of a dead calf, which I have to say is one of the grossest things I have ever seen on screen, beating out nearly every Zombie killing ever filmed.

I would be remiss if I skipped over the performance from Jessica Lange as Rob’s true love Mary. This is one of the strongest female performances I have ever seen. Mary is a perfect mate for Macgregor, as the warm heart shown only to her husband counters her feisty outward appearance. She is an integral part of the movie, as her strength in the face of atrocities holds the film fast from becoming a standard revenge tale.

It’s a fine line these film makers walk too. Often times, the villains’ deeds can be too dastardly, that no matter what vengeance the hero takes, the score is never really settled. For instance, Mel Gibson’s character may have killed the villain at the end of The Patriot, but its hard to see how he could find any peace after his foe had already killed two of his sons, burned his house down and burned a church full of his friends alive. Rob Roy comes close to stepping over that line, but thankfully it does not.

The film’s conclusion comes with what has to be called one of the greatest swordfights in film history. This is a raw look at fighting, with no quick editing or fancy looking choreography to speak of. This is a fight with MacGregor and Cunningham fighting to the death in an exhausting display of will. The work of fight choreography from Robert G. Goodwin is an expert example of building drama through the film’s action. The very end of the fight is vicious and leaves a lasting impression, which is more than I can say for most fights of this ilk.

Though it was overshadowed by its Scottish counterpart by year’s end, Rob Roy is still a rousing adventure and a terrific romantic piece. This film shows how huge battles and set pieces are not necessarily needed when an intimate duel can create just as much excitement. These characters are more than just their costumes and their legends. They are full-blooded people, and they shed it throughout this movie.

Picture Credits: leffa-arviot.com, impawards.com, moviemaker.com, nytid.no, oscarworld.net

Robert Sutton feels the most at home when he's watching some movie scumbag getting blown up, punched in the face, or kung fu'd to death, especially in that order. He's a founding writer for the movies section of Insidepulse.com, featured in his weekly column R0BTRAIN's Badass Cinema as well as a frequent reviewer of DVDs and Blu-rays. Also, he's a proud Sony fanboy, loves everything Star Wars and Superman related and hopes to someday be taken seriously by his friends and family.