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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
David McLean & Lee Dalgetty

What critics and film-goers are saying about Brandon Lee documentary My Old School

My Old School, which went on general release in UK cinemas on Friday, is a film which tells the true story of Brandon Lee - a grown man who in 1993 managed to convince staff and pupils at Bearsden Academy that he was a high school student.

When the bizarre story first broke, it attracted widespread and sensational news coverage. Now the release of the movie is getting the conversation started again.

Directed by Jono McLeod, one of Lee’s old classmates, the film tells the tale through Lee’s interview clips as well as animated sequences and archive footage. The documentary stars Lulu, Clare Grogan and Alan Cumming, who expertly lip-synchs over present-day audio recordings from Lee - real name Brian MacKinnon.

READ NEXT: My Old School director Jono McLeod on stranger-than-fiction film's release

The tale began when Lee arrived and claimed to be an orphan from Canada, who had come to live with his grandmother. It was all part of his elaborate scheme to re-sit his Highers and get into medical school - a goal that had been denied to him due to his age.

More than 25 years on, it’s still an astonishing tale - but what does the public have to say about McLeod’s documentary re-telling?

Now that the film's finally here, we’ve scoured social media to find out what folk are saying about My Old School.

Writing on Twitter, writer Ronan Fitzgerald said of the film: “My Old School was a very good film. A great story told in a funny and moving way.”

Praising the film and its soundtrack, Dr John G Hughes (@johnghughes3), tweeted: "Superb film. The mixed interview/ animation format worked really well, and it is very very funny too, with a great soundtrack."

Jamie McLoughlin (@jmcloughlin) wrote: "Fascinating documentary about a man in his 30s who passed himself off as a 16-year-old schoolboy in Glasgow in the 90s. Really has to be seen to be believed."

Another Twitter user posted: “Saw My Old School this evening - what an absolute cracker of a film. I suspect it will become a reference point for documentary story tellers in the future.”

Alan Cumming will provide the voiceover for Brandon Lee (YOUTUBE)

Paul Greenwood was in agreement, stating: “A second watch of My Old School confirms it’s one of the funniest films of the year, not to mention a terrific piece of well structured storytelling a deftly told mystery.”

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Iona Fyfe, a Scottish singer, was at the British premiere of the film last week, and reckons My Old School is a real winner and far superior to other recent real-life documentaries.

She posted to social media: “My Old School blows Anna Delvey, the Tinder Swindler and Elizabeth Holmes out the water.

“Whilst Alan Cumming is truly incredible, the real life classmates totally make the film. Get tae see it.”

Allan Hunter, director of the Glasgow Film Festival, branded the film: “A joyous, jaw-dropping tale".

As for reviews, My Old School has received a mixed bag from film critics.

Empire magazine gave the documentary three stars, claiming the film: “Misses an opportunity to ask big questions, but still manages to pack a punch on a small scale.

The Guardian's Wendy Ide was a little more impressed. Awarding the movie four stars, she labelled My Old School a "deft" and "limber" piece of film-making.

A.O. Scott of the New York Times called My Old School a "brisk, slippery" documentary that ultimately didn't "quite know what to make of it all, perhaps because of the director’s barely mentioned personal stake".

The Spectator's Deborah Ross had a similar take, saying that while the story will make your "jaw hit the floor", the film appears to have been "constructed to amuse rather than plumb any significant depths".

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