My Son

CinemaSerf dice:

James McAvoy ("Murray") is the ex-husband of "Joan" (Claire Foy) who is terrified when he hears the news that their young son "Ethan" has gone missing from a campsite amidst the forests and streams of the beautiful Scottish Highlands. The police - led by "Insp. Roy" (Gary Lewis) are out in force but gradually "Murray" starts to think that his son has been deliberately kidnapped. Front and centre on his list of suspects is her new boyfriend "Frank" (Tom Cullen) - but why? "Murray" has a past working in sensitive areas around the world so could this be a ransom scenario; or something altogether more sinister? Foy hardly features here, nor - for that matter - does Cullen. This is essentially just a strong personal performance from McAvoy as the desperate, distraught, father - but that is about all we get here. The story is weak and lurches rather than develops, especially given that the plausibility of the ultimate scenario in this most remote of rural locations does raise some eyebrows. The USP of this is that McAvoy improvised his dialogue - but unless you were aware of this in advance, you wouldn't know and indeed what he does deliver is no better than the usual expletive-ridden verbiage that we might have expected from the pen of many a mediocre thriller writer on a tight budget, and honestly I struggled to get into this. The lighting? Well - some extra wattage need not have compromised the look of the film, but it might have made it more attractive and easier for us to follow. It is worth watching for a few scenes in which McAvoy reminds us why he made it on the big screen, but the rest of this is little better than a made-for-television crime drama that offers little I will remember.