The Elephants' Graveyard

CinemaSerf7/10

Nov 17, 2024

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I wonder just how many blokes in 1970s Scotland left home, routinely, every morning claiming to go to work when all they actually did all day was wander the streets killing time until it was safe to go back home, or until the expected pay-day loomed but the cash didn't materialise! That's what "Bunny" (Jon Morrison) is doing until he encounters the "Flower of Scotland" whistling "Jody" (Billy Connolly). He's just about to hit forty and has a similar story to tell, so the two spend the day together sharing a bottle of cheap plonk and having some adventures - real and imaginary. Written using some enjoyable vernacular, the script allows both men to become friends whilst the older one dispenses some sagely comments on life, love and the pursuit of happiness. It is a comedy, and the whole presentation is light-hearted but it still packs a punch as the younger man starts to think a little more of his life and his choices using "Jody" as a template for what might be to come. Indeed, the question might be for the young "Bunny" is whether or not his own future is as inevitably set in stone as that of his new friend. There's a good chemistry between the two men here, some daft antics and I also remembered playing invisible cowboys and indians with my dad as a child (only for us it was more Redcoats and Highlanders). It's quite poignant at times and with just the two men and a wet and wooded hillside to frame it, it makes for an entertaining and well acted, occasionally thought-provoking, look as life through a prism of pessimism tempered with reality,