rajnot A wonderful way of story telling by bringing together a bunch of great actors.. Life is not always fair.. and you will only learn that when you are in hard times.. Very good laughs.. Billy Connolly is great as usual, besides good actors like David Tennant, Rosamund Pike, child actors did a great job.. must watch for heart warming..

Prismark10 From the makers of the sit com Outnumbered comes this odd mix. David Tennant and Rosamund Pike are Doug and Abi going through a rough patch in their marriage which is on the verge of splitting up. They head off to Scotland with their three children, Lottie, Mickey and Jess to celebrate what could be their grandfather's (Doug's dad,) Gordie last birthday as he is ill with cancer. The couple want to maintain an appearance of happy families for Gordie, the kids though let slip various difficulties their parents are having.However as the preparations for the party are taking place Gordie dies during a trip to the beach with the children. The kids knowing that all the grown ups just argue decide to give him a Viking funeral that grandad had earlier talked about which causes consternation to the adults when they later find out.It is a film of two halves. The first part is about dysfunctional families as when we get to Scotland, Doug's brother, a social climber also has problems at home with his wife and son who feel repressed by him. The emphasis on the children who react to the behaviour of the adults around them gives the film a different spin. The second half with the resultant media scrum changes the direction of the film and it just got silly. By that point it ceased to be an observational comedy and not even a drama.For a film that starts brightly, it takes a left turn which leads to disappointing results even though by the end the adults seemed to have worked through their problems.

TxMike I saw this at home on DVD from my local public library. I generally like British humor and this movie is filled with it, and almost all of it is laugh out loud funny, but in a very smart way. The cast includes three children, girl-boy-girl of about 10, 8, and 6, and they are each smart and delightful. They play a very key role in the resolution of the overall story.The "happy" couple, contemplating a divorce and not currently living together, are Rosamund Pike as Abi and David Tennant as Doug. They are getting their things and the three kids into the family SUV for a road trip from the London area to NW coast of Scotland, to help celebrate the 75 birthday of Doug's dad. But his dad, Billy Connolly (about 71 during filming) as Gordie, hasn't been well and his kids are saying this may be his last birthday. (As an aside, Connolly is just great in this role and his performance overall makes the movie what it is.) So anyway the weekend in Scotland will involve Doug's brother and wife, plus 200+ guests invited to the big birthday celebration in the big tent out in the big yard. But can the kids keep the secrets, so that granddad won't fall ill worrying about his sons?This is a great movie, interesting, funny, and with a meaningful message about accepting others with their quirks, people are just who they are, life is short, don't get mad at others you care about, just get along!SPOILERS: Gordie was not happy about the fuss being made over his birthday and he has resigned to the fact that his cancer is killing him. He puts on a brave face but he knows the end is near. He takes the pickup truck and the three grandkids to his favorite beach while everyone else is prepping for the party in the evening. Gordie lies down on a blanket on the sand but never wakes up. The kids rightly determine that he has died, no pulse and no breathing. They also recall him saying just earlier that day he didn't want a funeral, he was 80% Viking and he would have preferred a fiery burial at sea. So the kids gather discarded wood pallets and build a raft, and using the lawn recliner as a sail, set him on fire and out into the North Atlantic. In the end the grownups and news agencies outside the door have trouble understanding but Abi and Doug get the overall message and may be ready to repair their relationship.

eddie_baggins An odd yet often charming Scottish production, What We Did on Our Holiday is an easy film to sit back and enjoy and features some great child performers that steal the show from their much more seasoned co-stars.Sprinkled with a healthy dose of weird, directing duo Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin embed Holiday with an odd charm and flavour that may be too much for some and perhaps may even hamper viewers enjoyment who just might not of signed up to see young children dowse a corpse in gasoline. This odd centre at the core of Holiday however is what distinguishes it from a raft of other family oddball adventures and whilst there's an air of predictability about some of the goings on here often the film veers into directions and scenarios that you won't see coming which for modern day comedies is no mean feat.In such comedies as Holiday it's of the utmost importance that the dysfunctional family we're spending our time with are despite their flaws endearing and while David Tenant and Rosamund Pike's newly but secretly separated Doug and Abi aren't overly worthy of our affections there trio of children are. Wonderfully played by Emilia Jones, Bobby Smalldridge and Harriet Turnbull, these three tykes have fantastic interplay and have a knack for out doing there elder statesman in the timing stakes and all drive Holiday to a higher level than there adult performers can muster up. With able support from veteran Billy Connolly for once the child performers are the true reason to invest your time into a movie of this ilk.The story surrounding Holiday is a little slight and the film could've done with a few more truly laugh out loud jokes but at the end of the 90 minute trip to the Scottish Highlands which is highlighted by the sight of children getting amongst a makeshift Viking themed burial you'll be pleased you've taken the time out to be with the McLeod family, despite the forgettable nature of much of what had come to pass.3 gasoline covered grandads out of 5