After a somewhat disappointing few years following his meteoric rise, with a slew of disappointing blockbusters like “Wanted” and “X-Men First Class,” James McAvoy has had a stellar start to 2013. He’s already given strong performances in two thrillers we liked a lot, in “Welcome To The Punch“ and “Trance,” toplined a starry radio version of Neil Gaiman‘s “Neverwhere” along with Benedict Cumberbatch, and he’s won rave reviews for his Olivier-nominated Macbeth in London’s West End. But the best could still be yet to come.
The new trailer for “Filth” just arrived over at HeyUGuys and suggests that this might indeed be the case. The film, which has mostly been under the radar so far, is an adaptation of “Trainspotting” author Irvine Welsh‘s novel, and stars McAvoy as Bruce Robertson a bigoted and deeply corrupt Scottish cop tasked with solving a murder as he tries to win promotion. As things escalate, Robertson begins to lose his grip on things and come apart at the seams. “Filth” is directed by Jon S. Baird, who made a fairly impressive, if little-seen, debut a few years back with “Cass,” and Baird has put together an impressive cast which includes Jamie Bell, Imogen Poots, Jim Broadbent, Eddie Marsan, Martin Compston and Kate Dickie.
It looks like it could be fun, from the very NSFW clip that just arrived, which features a bloated, bearded McAvoy, in a very different role to those we usually see him in, shagging, sicking and swearing his way around Edinburgh. A Scottish version of “Bad Lieutenant” perhaps? The film doesn’t yet have a firm release date in the UK or in the US, but is expected to land sometime in the fall, so we reckon a TIFF bow is a good bet. Check the trailer, and the first poster, out below.
