A Weegie Abroad – Free: Film Review
Ed Uncovered previews A Weegie Abroad – Free, the final instalment in the AWA franchise.
‘Scumbag’ isn’t the sort of moniker you would expect a man to give himself. It’s more the sort of nickname assigned by others and which you then spend a lifetime trying to shake off. Delboy the Scumbag isn’t like other guys though. He’s way scummier and way funnier.
If you’ve yet to watch the prequels to this documentary, A Weegie Abroad and AWA2, the tl;dr goes something as follows: displaced Glaswegian ned travels to exotic parts of the world and woos them with his parochial banter while occasionally digging out the Buckfast and banging on about square sausage. Cue much hilarity.
It sounds like the sort of shtick that should be funny for five minutes, and it is, but it’s also amusing for way longer. A Weegie Abroad – Free is 75 minutes of eye-opening Asian culture coupled with rib-tickling Scottish observational comedy delivered through the eyes of its maverick protagonist.
The action commences on a river in Vietnam, with Delboy’s trademark Scumbag cap replaced by an Asian rice hat. As the boatman leads them downstream, the pasty-white Weegie reflects how different it all is from the Clyde, for out here there’s ‘not a shopping trolley in sight’.
Over the course of the next hour, we see the man from Govanhill dance with a python, haggle at a market (“This is just like the Barras”) and hand out “Peace and square sausage” tees. For the third installment of the series, the production values are higher and, as further evidence that it’s moved with the times, the Buckfast Delboy shares with his unsuspecting hosts now comes in cans.
I’ll scrimp on the spoilers, other than to quote Delboy’s pithy observation of Saigon – “It’s no as good as Govanhill” – and fried scorpion on a stick: “You’re a land prawn. You’re just a land wan.” Along the way, Delboy and filmmaker Tommy Slack check out Angkor Wat (“Let’s hae a wee swatch in aboot it”) and sample fresh fruit cocktails that are almost as good as Irn Bru on a whistlestop tour that takes in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.
Delboy’s brilliance lies in his ability to provide the sort of gritty and insightful social commentary you won’t find on BBC Three travel docus. Despite all the comedy and laddish banter, there are some deeper moments in the film, culminating in an inspirational ending that leaves you itching to dig out your passport, pack the Buckie and bring Scotland to the world.
It’s what our ancestors have done for centuries and Delboy is merely the modern manifestation of that, the latest explorer to export our culture and degeneracy to the world. The other take home message from #AWA3 is that when a weegie says you’re a “funny cunt”, he’s really not paying you a compliment.
It’s A Weegie Abroad – Free, so it is, and it’s coming soon to a screen near you. Get it checked but.
httpss://youtu.be/R_7ezjuyZ1w
