Strictly Sinatra ** (2001, Ian Hart, Kelly Macdonald, Brian Cox, Alun Armstrong) – Classic Movie Review 8,877

Ian Hart from Liverpool manages a decent Scots accent and a nifty vocal impression of Frank Sinatra, as Toni Cocozza, a Scottish-Italian club crooner obsessed with Ol’ Blue Eyes, in writer-director Peter Capaldi’s 2001 romantic drama Strictly Sinatra.

Toni (Hart) falls in with Glasgow gangsters, hoping that they will make him a star, betraying his pianist-manager Bill (Alun Armstrong) and his girl Irene (Kelly MacDonald).

A good idea is largely wasted in a low-powered, uninspiring film, but the acting saves it, with Brian Cox as mobster’s helper Chisholm. Richard E Grant and Jimmy Tarbuck appear as themselves.

Cert 15.

Strictly Sinatra is made by Arts Council of England,,DNA Films, and DNA Pictures International.

Armstrong replaced Ian Bannen, who died in a car crash.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8.877

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