Living Apart Together (film)

Eddie Harrison for magazine The List gave the film 4/5 stars and wrote that the film "has gained from being lost for several decades; the reliance on natural locations now make it seem like a time capsule of local delights, from gaudy Woolworths signs to forgotten Glasgow nightspots like DeQuincey’s, and Robertson’s vertically loading gramophone is a sight to behold", but that "Gormley’s film feels decidedly modern in the way it deftly probes away at Ritchie’s West of Scotland machismo, revealing an inner darkness behind his well-crafted tunes".^[7]

Anthony Nield for The Digital Fix wrote that "Gormley can be, at times, a little too low-key for his own good. He handles the musical moments well and similarly finds just the right tone for the more comedic touches (the lightness of Anderson’s performance plays its part here too), but the dramatic edges don’t quite hit home as well they should. To an extent I wonder whether Robertson’s lack of experience as an actor had its say in such matters – it’s clear early on (during a scene in which he and Kellerman are required to row) that he’s much less comfortable with the ‘big’ moments, yet gives off a natural charm when less is required" and that the film "doesn’t quite grab the viewer as well it should".^[4] Keir Roper-Caldbeck for The Skinny gave the film 3/5 stars and wrote that "Charles Gormley's light-footed approach to character and dialogue quickly beguiles" and that "the bouffant BA Robertson proves an amiable leading man".^[8]

In an interview with Harrison for The List in 2013, Robertson said he was "quite disbelieving about the whole Scottish film business" and that "we had a very tight budget, we were shooting on Super 16 so we had tonnes of technical problems. It seemed like an absolute racing certainty that Charlie and I would come to blows at some point, but we didn’t." He also said "‘a lot of the crew were quite suspicious of me, and rightly so. I didn’t have a scooby what I was doing!".^[9]

• Living Apart Together at IMDb
• Living Apart Together at Rotten Tomatoes
• Living Apart Together at the British Film Institute^{[better source needed]}