Stone of Destiny

Stone of Destiny
Director: Charles Martin Smith
Stars: Robert Carlyle, Charlie Cox, Billy Boyd
Classification: PG
Rating: *** 1/2

Like Slumdog Millionaire this past fall, Stone of Destiny takes a typical Hollywood narrative (the heist flick in this case) and transposes it to an exotic location (post- WWII Scotland).

Based on the book written by the film’s protagonist Ian Hamilton, Stone of Destiny follows a group of young Scottish nationalists in their quest to retake the titular rock; Scottish kings were crowned on the stone until it was stolen by the English in the 13th century. British monarchs have since used it for their own coronations, thereby making the English king, the king of Scotland as well.

Ian (Charlie Cox) believes that reclaiming the stone will rally the Scottish people around his group’s cause. He enlists the help of friend Bill (Billy Boyd) and John MacCormick (Robert Carlyle), a professor and head of the Scottish independence movement to hatch a plan for its retrieval.

That the group recaptures the Stone and returns it to Scotland is both a historical and narrative inevitability. So the challenge for director Charles Martin Smith (The Snow Walker) is to suck viewers into the world he’s created, something he accomplishes quite handily.

Audiences know how this story will end, but they’ll be scratching their heads wondering how this band of amateurs ever pulled off such a feat.

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