Rob Roy (1995)

(On Cable TV, March 2019) Is Rob Roy the underrated Scottish epic drama of the mid-1990s? Yes. All the attention goes to Braveheart, but (dare I say it?) I preferred Rob Roy. In the subgenre of non-Englishmen being persecuted by Englishmen, it also spends a lot of time doing Scottish mythmaking, but feels more honest about it. The landscapes of Scotland are beautifully photographed, and while Michael Caton-Jones may not a particularly flamboyant director, he gets it right when it counts. His touch helps ensure that the film’s execution trumps its standard material. One element that helps Rob Roy a lot is Liam Neeson’s extraordinary performance—a role only he could play in combining his imposing physical presence with his exceptional dramatic skills. The straightforward revenge plot isn’t surprising, but it’s sufficient for the purpose of myth-making, and it all leads to a very impressive climax. The final sword-fight is a high point of action filmmaking, especially when compared to most other instances of showy sword-fighting in films—this isn’t flynning as much as it’s a credible, painfully physical sequence that still stands as an anthology piece. It’s not the entire reason to see Rob Roy, but it certainly helps cap off a well-made film that withstands comparisons with its Oscar-winning counterpart.