Scotland, PA

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
"We're not bad people, Mac... just underachievers who have to make up for lost time."
—Pat

Scotland, PA is a 2001 film written and directed by Billy Morrisette, starring James LeGros, Maura Tierney, and Christopher Walken.

Joe "Mac" McBeth and his wife Pat are too old to be flipping burgers at Duncan's Cafe. Both of them receive a brief vision of what life would be like with Joe as the head of the restaurant; naturally, Pat decides the best way to accomplish this is to kill Duncan and make it look like a robbery. So that's what they do.

Under new management and a new name, the restaurant does great business. But forces, internal and external, threaten to tear everything apart. Banko, Mac's best friend, and Lt. McDuff, the detective investigating Duncan's murder, both have their suspicions about the local fast-food king and queen, while the happy couple themselves are driven mad by their guilt and paranoia.

That's right, you've seen this story before. It's The Scottish Play, only this time it's in rural Pennsylvania in the 70's, and it's all played for laughs.

In addition to the tropes in the source material, provides examples of:
  • Actor Allusion: McDuff's aside that he used to be a dancer.
  • Ambiguously Gay: Donald. It gets pretty blatant at the end. Hell, it's pretty blatant at the beginning.
    • The two male witches have a lot of innuendo between them, even though they're supposedly two non-sexual partners in a polyamorous relationship.

Witch 1: Why do I have to be in the back?
Witch 2: You said you liked it in the back!

Pat: You know, the most important thing is that we carry on [Duncan's] legacy. You know, keep his name alive!
[Cut to the "Duncan's" sign being torn off the front of the restaurant.]

  • The Ditz: Officer Ed.
    • Banko is also an example.
  • Fisher King: Completely inverted from the original play. Business at the restaurant does far better under the McBeths than it does before or after.
  • Greasy Spoon: Duncan's was closer to this than a true Burger Fool, which is what Pat and Mac turn the restaurant into.
  • Hard Work Montage / Good Times Montage: The renovation of Duncan's into McBeth's, and the resulting prosperity for the McBeths.
    • The "prosperity" is charmingly white trash too, such as upgrading from a trailer to a ranch.
  • Hunting Accident
  • Hypocritical Humor:

McDuff: What do you think of Malcolm?
Mrs. Lenox: Oh, well. I think he's rude, selfish and evil. But I never once judged him.

Witch #1: Maybe McBeth should kill McDuff's whole family?
Witch #2: Yeah that would work, like 1,000 years ago!

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