This is about as slight as childhood memoirs get. And director Hugh Hudson has missed out on most of the joy inherent in the upbringing of Sir Denis Forman (here called Fraser and played by the unprepossessing Robert Norman) in the Scottish highlands. His father (Colin Firth), an eccentric inventor, falls heavily for the French fiancée (Irene Jacob) of his brother-in-law (Malcolm McDowell), to the chagrin of his wife (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) who has borne him six kids. The film tries to spice things up with Fraser's sexual education through his uncle's racy books, but the piece remains largely devoid of life and its heavyweight cast sinks in the lightweight material likes victims of a quicksand. Brendan Gleeson and Kelly Macdonald have barely a line between them in roles that must surely have once amounted to more.