Brian Cox rages robustly and arrestingly against the dying of the light in “The Etruscan Smile,” an unabashedly formulaic yet undeniably affecting coming-to-terms drama that may cause as much discomfort as delight for those who recognize bits and pieces of their own fathers (or themselves) in the cantankerous character Cox portrays so persuasively.Based on the novel “La Sonrisa Etrusca” by José Luis Sampedro, with the original narrative transported from Milan to Scotland and San Francisco by co-writers Michael McGowan, Michael Lali Kagan and Sarah Bellwood, the film focuses primarily on Rory MacNeil (Cox), an irascible septuagenarian who initially seems content to spend his twilight years on the remote Hebrides Island where his family has lived for generations.
Trouble is, he fears that, given his noticeably declining health, he may not have many years left.
And he’ll be damned if he’s going to die before Campbell (Clive Russell
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