Fantastically inspirational film and - speaking personally, as a Scot – you can't be a film about a Scotsman who succeeded in sport.

Patrick Suskind's book, of the same name, is beautifully written and, as such, I found this adaptation a little disappointing with a tendency to fall into period piece cliché.

An emphasis on character studies over action extravaganzas leads to a film that pays repeated watching. A slowly unfolding narrative, it's well worth setting aside an evening for.

An initially intriguing idea evolves painfully into a laborious, over-wrought and completely implausible story that barely engages as the clock ticks relentlessly towards the closing credits.