Movie Review by Neils Hesse
Starring: Ulrich Thomsen, Shauna Macdonald, Gary Lewis, Kevin McKidd
Director: Stephen Whittaker
Close your eyes (after you’ve read this paragraph please!) and imagine a small Scottish village in the 1930s. Imagine also that they receive an extremely unlikely visitor in the form of a German scientist who intends to build a rocket to deliver post from their island to the mainland!
Okay you can open your eyes now. Believe it or not it is all based on actual events.
Whilst the locals try to understand just what their visitor is really up to, the very German scientist ends up head over heels in love with local Scottish lass, Catherine McKay (Shauna Macdonald).
So is this a story of ill fated lovers, a tale of how Scots got along with Germans at such a prickly time in Europe or is it a story about the post and rockets as the title so aptly suggests? I for one can’t truly say but what I can say is that Shauna Macdonald playing the part of the simple Scottish lass absolutely steals the show. She shows such passion, such naturalism and one stand out scene has her screaming out in sorrow for her lover with such emotion that despite it’s corny setting the performance should evoke emotion even in the most cynical of viewers!
So this rocket doesn’t exactly reach the stratosphere but it is watchable in a very pleasant, corny, love story way!
