Rarely has 18th-century England looked as unappealing as it does it "Plunkett & Macleane."
Yet ironically enough, the film itself is nearly irresistible — at least for an hour, which is when the whole thing collapses under the weight of a too-serious approach, bad plotting and truly odd contemporary touches that make the film seem more like a fantasy than a historically based adventure.
Still, it's not a terrible filmmaking debut for Jake Scott, whose father (Ridley Scott, of "Alien" and "Thelma & Louise" fame) and uncle (Tony Scott, "Crimson Tide," "Top Gun") have both made their marks in the cinematic world with similarly flashy but inconsistent works (in terms of material).
Unfortunately, it is the material that fails the younger Scott and a pretty decent cast, which includes "Trainspotting" co-stars Robert Carlyle and Jonny Lee Miller as the title characters, a pair of real-life highwaymen who robbed some of England's richest and most prominent citizens.
The two men meet when Plunkett (Carlyle) accidentally frees Macleane (Miller) from debtor's prison. Later on, as the two wind up imprisoned for grave robbing, they become extremely reluctant partners in crime.
After buying their release, the duo begins a new scheme, one to set up Macleane as a faux nobleman — so he can find rich and easy targets to rob. Meanwhile, Plunkett, playing the role of his faithful servant, provides the know-how and arms to pull off their daring thefts.
Word quickly spreads about these "gentlemen highwaymen," who are courteous to their victims and who manage to evade capture by the cruel Mr. Chance (Ken Stott). They even become folk heroes of sorts to the less fortunate.
Eventually the two men do obtain enough money to sail to America, where they hope to find more respectable professions. But Macleane finds himself increasingly drawn to the beautiful Lady Rebecca Gibson (Liv Tyler), which may spell disaster for all of them.
Scott definitely has his father's eye for eye-popping visuals. And he keeps the action moving so fast that the dumb plotting and inconsistent characterizations aren't quite as glaring as they might have been.
But the script (by a trio of British screenwriters) is lacking enough humor and grimy charm. Also, you have to wonder what signal the filmmakers are trying to send by making these two characters out to be heroes.
However, there is good chemistry between Miller and Carlyle, and Tyler certainly doesn't embarrass herself — although her British accent wavers in places.
"Plunkett and Macleane" is rated R for violent gunplay and explosions, profanity, simulated sex, some extremely crude humor and use of vulgar sexual slang terms, gore and a scene of torture.