Handsome Devil (15) ★★★☆☆
BEING an outsider can be hard: the feeling different, the not fitting in with the people around you that you don’t have anything in common with, and what it means when you find a friend in the most unexpected of places.
These things and more are explored in the charming coming-of-age tale Handsome Devil from Irish director John Butler, which last night kicked off this year’s Glasgow Film Festival.
Ned (Fionn O’Shea) is a red-headed, bright and learned teenager who is forced by his dad (Ardal O’Hanlon) to stay at an all-boys boarding school where rugby is practically a religion and he is most certainly not a believer.
He is immediately picked on: for his scrawny looks, for his love of old punk music, for his love of poetry, for his apathy towards the school’s favoured sport and even for his sexuality, which will come to play an important part in the ensuing drama.
Not long after arriving he is forced to share a room with another new boy, Conor (Nicholas Galitzine), a star rugby player who was kicked out of his last school for fighting. The two are polar opposites, with Ned even literally putting up a wall of belongings between each side of their room.
But before long the two of them form an unlikely friendship – over a shared love of music and mutual status as the new boys in the playground – as they struggle to deal with life at their new school.
There’s an admirable thematic reach to this low-key character comedy and a pleasant, easygoing charm that makes it a breezy and enjoyable watch. There’s also some inventive direction at play, namely an eye-catching use of split-screen that complements the lively dialogue very well.
The cast are likeable and compelling enough to paper over some of the cracks of hurriedness in the script. Adam Scott (reteaming with Butler after lad comedy The Stag) is particularly excellent, bringing pathos to the Dead Poets Society-esque teacher with a secret. “If you spend your life being someone else, who’s going to be you?” he shouts with frustration after Ned cheats on an essay by copying lyrics from an obscure song he didn’t count on his new teacher knowing.
There may be nothing particularly world-changing about this coming-of-ager, treading well-worn ground we’ve seen in a thousand and one other similar films. But it’s ground that still has relevance and Butler’s film traverses that familiar territory with feeling, wit and a sense of good-natured fun.
It’s a lovely way to start another year of one of the most exciting festivals in the country.
The Glasgow Film Festival runs until February 26. See glasgowfilm.org
Don’t miss Ross Miller’s weekly film reviews in tomorrow’s National
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