User reviews

Stone of Destiny is stirring and while it never claims to be Braveheart it does capture a lot of what Scotland's quest to be free is all about; and is surprisingly moving.

A fun film about the true theft of the very potent symbol of Scottish heritage also known as Jacob's Pillow (As Jacob was meant to have slept on it after wrestling the angel in Genesis): the Scottish coronation stone.

It is simply told with old-fashioned values - it reminded us of 1950s cinema - something about a good story well-told, a caper with moral vision, if you will.

Above all it was fun. The time whizzed by and it really is an entertaining watch. The attempts to capture the 50s are good, there are some slight anachronisms here and there but overall it holds good. The actors all give it their all and there is a real sense of fun to be had here.

If you want a great adventure story and like true stories then this will definitely be your cup of tea.

Since around the 9th century, tradition holds that Scottish monarchs took their place upon the Stone of Scone during their coronation ceremony, until 1296 when it was captured by Edward I and placed in Westminster Abbey under a seat upon which English sovereigns were crowned, thereby showing the English power over the Scots. "Stone of Destiny" tells the true story of Ian Hamilton, a young student and nationalist, who was to attempt to return the Stone to its rightful place in Scotland and thereby right a long-standing injustice by the English.

The cast is strong and features the likes of Robert Carlyle, Brenda Fricker and Billy Boyd (that "fool of a Took"). However, Charlie Cox once again caught my attention following his leading role in Stardust. Given he is not a native Scot, he makes a great effort at the accent, and again manages to portray his character with a great balance of likability, determination and youthful exuberance, and gives us hope that some of the next generation's leading men can combine acting and looking good... Director Charles Martin Smith does wonderfully in conveying the underdog theme brilliantly with a good balance of action, comedy and emotion. It's a definite feel-good movie, with the people around me clapping at the end. 5 stars, a British gem.

I just saw Stone of Destiny at its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival. The stars and director were in attendance as well as Ian Hamilton and Alan Stuart themselves.

I enjoyed this film very much. It's got humour and heart and characters that you can really get behind. You really want to see them succeed. It's also hard not to feel a swell of patriotism come the end -if you're a Scot. Otherwise you'll still get a warm feeling inside The cast are likable and their performances are good - although Charlie Cox and Kate Mara's accents weren't entirely convincing they both put in winning performances. The supporting cast are also good value with Stephen McCole making a very personable member of the team. Billy Boyd and Robert Carlyle do well with slightly limited roles.

There are a few niggles - like the aforementioned accents - and some suspiciously green looking trees given that its set in winter, but these are minor. I can see this doing very well when it is put on general release, and that success will be deserved.

This film is about a group of students who are passionate about their native Scotland, plotting the ultimate heist to awaken nationalism of their homeland.

I am pleasantly surprised by "Stone of Destiny". The plot is great, it engages me throughout. The pacing is great, and there is tasteful comedy to balance the thrill. The characters, especially the leader Ian Hamilton, are well sculpted that viewers identify with him easily. I can feel his passion and his burning desire to do something for Scotland, and I am moved by that. The ending is satisfying and emotional, I am still touched by the profound emotions conveyed by the film.

Scotland 1950. Student Ian Hamilton, frustrated by what appears to be a lack of spirit in the people of Scotland, hatches a plan to steal the Stone Of Destiny from Westminster Abbey, and bring it home....

The movie is based on a book written by Hamilton himself. Now, I've not read it, so I'm not sure what the author will think of the finished movie, but I enjoyed it. Written for the screen and directed by Charles Martin Smith, this is Scotland as portrayed by Americans. It's a romantic, sweeping place, full of downtrodden Scots. It's a view of Scotland that you only ever see in the movies. However, it fits the mood of the piece, as this movie does have an old-fashioned feel about it. It recalls the Ealing movies of the '50s, with the whole thing if not played out for laughs, then certainly with a lot of humour in the drama.

The robbers, as portrayed by Charlie Cox, Kate Mara, Ciaron Kelly and Stephen McCole, come over as enthusiastic, if bumbling students who manage to steal the Stone through luck as much as anything else. The movie definitely sides with them.

The cast which also includes Robert Carlyle, Peter Mullan and Billy Boyd are very good indeed, even if some of the accents don't convince.

I'm not sure how historically accurate the movie is, but as a movie, while it does have an old-fashioned feel, it is enjoyable and good natured, and like Braveheart before it, make you proud to be Scottish!

It's 1950 Glasgow. Ian Hamilton (Charlie Cox) and his friend Bill Craig (Billy Boyd) are young Scottish Nationalists. John MacCormick (Robert Carlyle) is pushing for a Scottish Parliament and home rule. There is much apathy at home and rejection in London. Ian comes up with the idea of retaking the Stone of Destiny. It was the seat of Scottish royalty that was taken by the English to Westminster Abbey in London and incorporated into the Coronation Chair. Ian cases the Abbey and goes to MacCormick for financial help who is surprised by his lowly £50 request. Bill backs out fearing arrest. MacCormick directs Ian to Kay Matheson (Kate Mara) who brings along strong Gavin Vernon who then brings along his skinny friend Alan Stuart and a rundown car.

This works as a good old fashion caper film. It's got plenty of underdog and a large splash of Scottish nationalism. Charlie Cox is solid with the wide-eyed youthful exuberance. The group's chemistry is generally good. The ending gets a bit too sentimental but that's perfectly fine for this movie.

this was an interesting and enjoyable film to watch without it reaching any great heights. As an Englishman living overseas, I am ignorant of the original story and I was born after 1950 in which year the film is set, so the story in a sense was a refreshing change to the banter normally coming from Scots about Braveheart and Robert Burns. Of all the films I have seen recently, this one carried a very satisfactory and logical ending and the film itself moves at sufficient speed for you never to be bored or agitated. Kate Mara is perhaps a little out of place and I wasn't quite sure what Robert Carlisles job in London was. I do wonder if the same director contemplates a similar movie in time to 4th-5th November 1605 although it was not Scots motivated for that incredible event, though it was a Scottish catholic King as the cause for it. Cant fault this film, don't want to, the film works as it is, good British entertainment, see it, enjoy it, have a pint afterwards and comment to friends about it at work next morning.

I for one would like to enter a plea on its behalf that people should see this film and make up their own minds. As someone who knows something about shaping a story, I am sure that a wider audience will find it a very competent adventure story with moments of real suspense, while for Scots it gives them the flavour of a moment in history and catches very authentically the emotions roused in a wide range of people by the Stone's recovery. The participants, though young, had potentially too much to lose for the raid to be dismissed as a student prank. Like it or not, there was real patriotic fervour at work here and a desire to remedy an old wrong. This is a well written, well acted film, although the reaction of the Scottish critics would have you think otherwise. It is hard to know what personal or professional uncertainty made for such a grudging reception, but it would be a pity if it meant that fewer people saw the film.

The movie was good, the actors were good & it held my attention but the significance of the Stone of Destiny wasn't explained well enough to make me understand why proud Scottish place so much importance in it. Why is it so important? Why is it significant to Scotland? How did England end up with possession of it? What exactly is the Stone of Destiny? I am an American but my Mother is Scottish but born in America which is why I have interest in Scotland. I will end up Goggling it to find out but that is my point- the movie should have explained it better.

This movie had a great premise, and it could have been a great movie if executed properly. But nothing clicks here.

It is part drama and part heist movie. The heist part was really really boring. I have seen a lot of heist movies and it takes something clever to hold my interest. Sadly this was not it.

Then there is the drama part. It is let down by an average acting. If Stone of Destiny had better actors, we could have been interested in their fates, but not here. The script is also pretty weak. Instead of feeling like a nationalist act, it actually feels like a high school prank. Most of all there is no energy in the film. With a topic like nationalism, a movie can easily rouse the audience and make them identify with the actors. Not here, we are just watching and waiting for the whole thing to end.

I went to see Stone of Destiny recently and have to say that I very impressed. I felt that the director captured the 1950s period perfectly Personally I didn't see much wrong with the movie, which I found humorous and witty with some of the actors playing their parts extremely well.

As far as any negative press re the movie is concerned I believe that there may be a Political slant on this as it may well be that Unionist political parties were a little frightened of the movie stirring up a wave of Scottish Nationalism which under the current climate may have resulted in Independence for Scotland!

They cant afford to lose us Scots you know?

We have so much going for us in Scotland and for those people who say that they are happy with the Union, fair enough, but there are also a great many who aren't and would love the opportunity to go it alone.

The time has Come

Scotland the Brave!

1950, four students -- Kay Matheson, Gavin Vernon, Alan Stuart, and Ian Hamilton -- were disappointed by Scotland's refusal to form its own Parliament. So they stole the Stone Of Destiny from Westminster Cathedral. This is their story. As told by Ian Hamilton, anyway, played here by Charlie Cox.

The Stone of Detiny is also know as the Stone of Scone and a bunch of other titles. Supposedly found in MacBeth's castle, it was used as part of the coronation of Scottish kings until 1296, when Edward I took it south and used it as part of England's coronation regalia.

The story is told with good humor and some lovely photography of Scottish countryside and British interiors by Glen Winter. Hamilton has a brief appearance in the movie.

Stone of Destiny is comfortable, it does not ask why the people of Scotland would want independence. It presents the theft as a student prank, which is supported by society. There is rarely harm in student pranks and the students do learn things, but as in this case they rarely change the world. So, it looks nice, but it would have been good to see more Scottish talent on display. I am very happy looking at Kate Mara on screen, having seen her in 'Shooter' she was one of the reasons that I went to see the film, she was a different character. They all handled their accents well enough for me not to notice, and the group worked well together. The production is well done, and looked right to my eyes for the time of the film. I think that the script could have been developed more. There is a repeated scene with characters running past each other. I did not walk out really understanding the basic desire that drove the theft of the stone.

I recently saw this at the 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival. This is an adventure-comedy based on the real-life story of Ian Hamilton (Charlie Cox) who as a college student in Edinbourough, Scotland hatches an unlikely plot with the aid of a handful of fellow student to break into Wesminster Abbey in London and return to it's native land of Scotland the Stone of Destiny that for centuries has served as the coronation stone for the kings and queens of England. It's a feel-good enjoyable story based on Hamiltons book with the screenplay by director Charles Martin Smith. Smith as an American actor is known for his roles in such films as American Graffiti, The Untouchables, The Buddy Holly Story and Starman turns out a great product here in this little film as it's director. I would give it an 8.0 out of 10 and recommend it.

My wife and I took our 10 year old. The time didn't drag and it was nicely done. Not a life changing, earth shattering film that you'd necessarily bother to see again, but it passed a pleasant evening and we were glad we'd gone to see it. It captured the sometimes bumbling and chaotic nature of of this kind of endeavour, and there were a few edge of the seat moments. The acting was fine and it captured the feel of a different era when we weren't so paranoid about terrorism and public buildings were much more easily accessible. I guess a lot of non-Scots won't fully understand the reference to the Declaration of Arbroath (I saw it on display in Edinburgh many years ago and it blew me away - and I'm an Englishman!).

This film is another worthwhile addition to the litany of low budget Scottish films. It's short on explosions and other spectacular effects; instead it majors on how the events in the film bring out the true selves of the key characters, while retaining a streak of slightly whimsical comedy. It reminded me very much of "On A Clear Day" -- indeed, one or two of the same actors appear -- but that film was about a man finding his own soul; this film is about finding the soul of a nation. Furthermore, it's true ... OK, so some of the events are re-ordered or omitted for dramatic effect, but much of what you see really did happen. Even the filming venues are genuine ... you really are seeing Glasgow University and you really are seeing the interior of Westminster Abbey. The music is genuinely Scottish too ... 'Wild Mountain Thyme' and 'Scots Wha Hae With Wallace Bled' form a lot of the backing music.

See this if you enjoyed 'On a Clear Day'; to a lesser extent it's also like 'The Full Monty', 'Heartlands', and 'Braveheart'.

So authentic. No car chases, explosions or superheroes.

I live for great movies like this, ones below the radar of the big movies... this one has charm, friendship, intrigue and you just can't help but want them to accomplish their task. I thoroughly enjoyed this flick!! A must watch if you don't have to have car chases and machine guns to keep your interest. (Nothing wrong with that but it's a great change of pace) and Mara and Cox really nail their characters.