Film review: Filth (18) - Reviews - Films - The Independent Jon S Baird's adaptation of Irvine Welsh's 1998 novel about a corrupt police officer, played by James McAvoy. The Independent says: "Welsh's scabrous and quite disgusting novel Filth seemed like a perverse attempt to write something unfilmable. For what it's worth, 15 years on, this diluted adaptation suggests that he succeeded. James McAvoy does his best to overcome his innate likeableness but is still miscast ... playing for laughs that just aren't forthcoming. They say: The Telegraph: "I loved every minute of Filth, and couldn't have stomached another second ... McAvoy, on his best form since Atonement, performs what might be the most dangerous balancing act by a leading man this year, teetering crazily between repugnant and pathetic without ever passing through likeable, and yet somehow never loses you." Time Out: "In-yer-face, down-yer-throat and throw-it-back-up-all-over-the-pavement cinema. This punky adaptation ... dishes up humour that's blacker than a winter's night in the Highlands ... true to Welsh's out-there, frighteningly frank prose. You say: @lindon77: "still a bit shell shocked after Filth tonight. McEvoy magnificent, Irvine Welsh a master at work. @LindseyLouden: "Welsh is a very disturbed man! #GreatFilm"