This creakily old-fashioned remake of the 1949 Ealing comedy ‘Whisky Galore!’ never finds its feet. Like the much-loved original, it’s a wartime comedy, based on Compton Mackenzie’s 1947 novel about a Hebridean island whose ration of whisky runs out – only for a cargo ship carrying cases of the hard stuff to wash up on nearby rocks.
The community nabs the booze but have to fight petty-minded bureaucracy to be able to enjoy it – all while looking forward to the weddings of two daughters of a local shopkeeper. Directed by Gillies MacKinnon, this new version lacks the mischief of the original and feels like a sluggish museum piece.
