"Strictly Sinatra" tells of a young Glasgow club singer and Sinatra wannabe (Hart) who falls in with the mob while falling in love with the mob's ex-cigarette girl (Macdonald) and must choose between the mob and fame or the girl and love. A pleasing and enjoyable little comedy/light drama, the film is flavored with lots of old Sinatra standards, some gangster skullduggery, a few poignant moments, and just a spritz of romance. Although "Strictly Sinatra" is strictly a mediocre flick, it makes for an enjoyable small screen watch for those who don't mind dreary old Glasgow and thick Scottish accents.

You could hardly accuse scribe/helmer Peter Capaldi of being subtle. The real Francis Albert Sinatra had widely documented alleged 'connections' with organised crime, specifically the Mafia and Capaldi's Tony Cocozza, a club singer whose repertoire is, as he tells his pianist, strictly Sinatra, makes initial contact with heavy hitting Glasgow gangsters within two reels. If you can get past that without yawning this isn't a bad time-passer and if Brian Cox is well OTT Alun Armstrong turns in a fine low-key cast-against type performance as Cocozza's pianist and closest thing to friend whilst Kelly MacDonald is 1) great to look at and 2) unbelievably and unrealistically nice-cum-naïve. The tune-stack is well up to snuff though Ian Hart is to Sinatra what Dick Van Dyke is to cockney.

As a lifetime Sinatra fanatic, I was drawn to this movie with interest and little knowledge of the plot. I thought the film was a fairly well told story of a "star struck" wannabe with a gentle heart, who decides he willing to do anything to realize his aspirations, and follow in Ol Blue Eyes footsteps. The musical score is excellent and lends to the period of work that Cocozza's idol gave to the world. Ian Hart does his best to detail what a 28 yr old "loser" feels like, and the depths he will sink to "make it".The one drawback was the often difficulty in understanding the Scottish dialect that too often impairs the ability to discern key dialogue exchanges. All in all, I'd recommend it..especially to the millions of Sinatra fans still around who continue to perceive his talent/persona in a "god-like" fashion.