The Coal Truth

Ewan McGregor does not doff his clothes in Brassed Off!, the British drama about coal workers. But that hasn't stopped Miramax honcho Harvey Weinstein from capitalizing on the star's new sex-symbol status. Brassed Off!'s print ads, which now feature an alluring photo of McGregor and bill him as ''The Hottest Scottish Import Since Sean Connery,'' are Weinstein's response to reviewers who have not given unanimous thumbs-up to the movie , which has so far made a ho-hum $1.3 million. ''I wanted to line [the critics] all up and shoot them,'' explains Weinstein, ''but instead what I've had to do is just sell the movie sexy. It's Harvey throwing a big hand grenade at New York's snotty critics. Kiss my butt, man.''