REVIEW: California Schemin’ is a love letter to Dundee on the big screen
- Ross Batchelor
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
This review contains spoilers for California Schemin'
Going into the special Q&A screening of California Schemin' at DCA, I knew that there was going to be some element of endearment for me as a lifelong Dundonian seeing my hometown on the big screen.
I can safely say my pride for Dundee swelled with its willingness to show as true a reflection of oor city as I've seen depicted in media, both in its great and faulty aspects.
On top of doing Dundee justice, James McAvoy's directorial debut swept me up with its infectious energy, spearheaded by two dynamite lead performances in this immensely fun and likeable film.
Gavin Bain (Séamus McLean Ross) and Billy Boyd (Samuel Bottomley) are two aspiring young rappers grappling with life in the schemes and their stifling jobs at the call centre. Billy cuts a more relaxed figure with his jocular, easygoing nature and the steadying influence of his soulmate Mary (Lucy Halliday) who also serves as a pseudo-agent for their group Silibil n' Brains (partially due to the fact that only she owns a phone), while the quieter Gavin, with less tying him to Dundee, feels the weight of anxiety bearing down on him in making their shared dream become a reality.
An ill-fated audition in front of snobby English talent scouts reveals to the duo the prejudice towards their Scottishness, and it serves to fuel a crazy idea which at first intends to expose the music industry's bias but later expands into an exhilarating double life for both rappers which holds more risks than rewards.
Donning American accents (and through Billy's opportunism, brash American personalities too), Silibil n' Brains suddenly find themselves on a whirlwind path to success and everything they'd dreamed of, but with the price of losing their true selves to the increasingly incredulous-sounding kids from "Sandy Angeles".
Gavin takes to it like a duck to water, seemingly feeling freer than he ever did back home. Billy however finds himself increasingly at odds with which life he wants to focus on between the group's success and Mary whose presence threatens to break their illusion, and as the plan to use their newfound popularity to expose the business begins to fade away the tension between the two steadily begins to rise.
The biggest joy I had with California Schemin' was in the performances, particularly with Ross and Bottomley as the main duo. They completely embody the electric chemistry of Gavin and Billy and feed off each other through every wild idea, and as the impact of their risk-taking hits each of them differently their transformations are excellently measured and sympathetic even after bad blood spills over (Ross in particular shines as he transitions from being wracked with nerves to taking insane risks with little hesitation in a gradual but startling fashion).
Another big shout out goes to Halliday as Mary, who matches their chaotic momentum but remains the true grounding rod and emotional centre of the film.
McAvoy himself also puts in a good turn as a hot-headed, Malcolm Tucker-esque music executive ready to snap at any moment and provides a funny but frightening check on the group's ambitions (and perhaps a further look at the hypocrisy of opinions on non-traditional music artists such as Scottish rappers held by supposedly Scottish music execs).
California Schemin' fits the eclectic MTV-era vibe with the rap duo's style, the look and mindset of the industry, and the handheld camcorder footage which really encapsulates Gavin and Billy's giddy, goofy and youthful vibe from their own footage.
They also use the Dundee locations well, mixing the beauty of the Tay Bridge along with the less glamorous sights of Hilltown's Dallfield multis to give a full-rounded sense of Dundee's physical aspects while making clear the class division between the duo's origins and the world they're attempting to move into.
McAvoy keeps things moving fast for the most part to keep up with the livewire story through the visuals, along with the score which includes new songs from both Bain and Boyd. It maybe isn't the most technically ambitious film of the year with a lot of safe choices that slow things down and struggles to stick the landing in a very memorable way beyond the 'be yourself' message, but the heartbeat of California Schemin' comes from the personalities and story of their rise, and it's a strong first feature for McAvoy.
The Q&A afterward also provided a great deal of insight and entertainment, with it being the first time in the film's tour through festivals and such to have both Gavin and Billy together, alongside their actor counterparts to boot.
The lads were in fine form and it felt like they could've talked for far longer if time had allowed, with plenty of playful banter and fascinating insights into the process of Ross and Bottomley finding their characters, along with the emotional impact for Bain and Boyd seeing their lives being recreated in such a vivid and heartfelt way.
It was a great time getting to see this proudly Scottish film in a raucous hometown setting in the heart of Dundee. I hope this gets the reception here and throughout Scotland which it deserves, as well as across the world to folks less familiar with Dundee and the story of Silibil n' Brains.
It's a love letter to ambition, the captivating force of music, and undoubtedly also to the City of Discovery itself, and it is absolutely worth a watch!
California Schemin' releases in theatres on 10 April. You can purchase tickets now at the Dundee Contemporary Arts. who are also showing the 2013 documentary The Great Hip Hop Hoax on 5 and 12 April.
