ON A CLEAR DAY — ** 1/2 — Peter Mullan, Brenda Blethyn, Billy Boyd; rated PG-13 (profanity, vulgarity).

"On a Clear Day" is in dire need of subtitles. This is yet another film filled with British accents so thick that much of the dialogue is difficult to decipher.

This drama is also a tad on the cliched, predictable side, though that's to be expected from this sort of feel-good material.

One thing that sets "On a Clear Day" apart from other, like-minded films — besides its spectacular Scottish location footage — is the first-rate cast.

Scottish actor Peter Mullan stars as Frank Redmond, a shipbuilder who's at a bit of a crossroads. The company he works for has decided to lay off most of its employees, including Frank. So now he has to find a way to spend his idle time and make ends meet.

Luckily, his wife Joan (Brenda Blethyn) has decided to take driver training so she can become a bus driver. As for Frank, he becomes determined to swim the English Channel, both as a personal challenge and as a rallying point for his community, his fellow workers, family and friends.

The story holds few if any surprises, though, to be fair, it's really more character-driven than a story-driven.

It's just fortunate that the first-time filmmakers — director Gaby Dellal and screenwriter Alex Rose — have this cast to work with. Mullan ("Criminal") always commands attention, as does Blethyn, who puts in a serious bid to steal the film (her character's storyline is just as interesting as Mullan's).

Which is not meant to slight the contributions from the supporting cast, made up of such veteran British character actors as Sean McGinley and Ron Cook. There's also some welcome comic relief from Billy Boyd (from the "Lord of the Rings" movies) and Benedict Wong, who plays the rather unlikely coach helping train Frank.

"On a Clear Day" is rated PG-13 for occasional use of strong profanity (including one usage of the so-called "R-rated" curse word) and some other crude and suggestive language. Running time: 98 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com