Change Your Image
fiendishgames
Reviews
The High Life (1994)
Low humour in The High Life
Well, it's not Oscar Wilde, that's for sure.
Bitchy, acerbic, camped-up and profane, it is full of energy.
More than 20 years later the wife and I are still using the "Oh, dearie me" catchphrase. It does not sound particularly funny, but it works for most occasions after a private joke and no one else seems to know what we are on about.
All of the episodes are now on a well-known video uploading site so you can see what all the fuss is about. A bit strange these days to see people smoking in the workplace and other aspects have dated a bit - check out the mobile phone on the rock star episode - but other aspects of what is essentially an office comedy are timeless.
The Likely Lads (1964)
Bit disappointed
I got the DVD of the surviving episodes from series one to three and was a bit disappointed, in truth.
I am a great fan of "Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?", which I would rank alongside "Steptoe & Son" and "Till Death Us Do Part" as the best British situation comedies, so I was curious to see whether the forerunner to "Whatever Happened ..." was any good.
The good news is that even at this stage of Clement & La Frenais's career, their ear for realistic dialogue was clearly well developed. You can watch the programmes as light drama and enjoy them without worrying about the fact that the scripts aren't that funny, although modern audiences might find the shows a bit slow.
As hinted above, however, the scripts aren't that funny, though the later episodes are better than the early ones, which suggests that the writers were getting to know their characters better and exploit the tension that exists between sensible, open-minded Bob and wild, bigoted Terry.
Even more surprisingly, the acting is only middling to good, whereas in "Whatever Happened ..." it was top notch. I was resigned to Rodney Bewes being a bit wooden (in fact he's not bad, if one assumes he is deliberately underplaying) but James Bolam was a bit disappointing, doing a bit too much mugging for the camera and fake laughing.
Worth renting but not buying if only for the shock of seeing Wendy Richard in her dolly-bird days (also Wanda Ventham).
That Thing You Do! (1996)
Wake me up, before you go-go
This is a gentle, light, fluffy, reasonably well-observed film that is virtually devoid of conflict or passion. My wife fell asleep watching it and I only stayed awake because I was trying to spot the musical references, such as the band's equipment becoming better as they became more successful (they switched to Rickenbackers and Fenders from unidentifiable makes of guitar).
The title song is (probably deliberately) overplayed in the movie and is easy on the ear and yet, a day later, I can't really remember it all.
Everything happens way too easy for the band and even when they fall apart, the band members don't seem to care, so why should we?
If you want to see a more gritty approach to this subject matter, with way better songs, more laughs, more passion and more realism, try Slade in "Flame".
Flame (1975)
Not as good as I hoped, not as bad as I feared
The rating (7+ at the time of writing) on IMDB might lead you to expect an undiscovered classic. In fact, it is a modest low-budget effort which has stood the test of time pretty well.
The film concentrates on the more mundane aspects of the rock and roll lifestyle: the rehearsals, the on-stage jealousy, the back-stage bickering, having to deal with "the men in suits" who want to package the band like a packet of fish fingers. We also see lots of "it's grim oop north" staples, such as terraced houses, pigeon lofts, dirty canals and a steel foundry. Given the budget, this was a wiser move than attempting to capture Slade in all their foot-stomping grandeur at the height of their fame.
From a technical viewpoint, the sound is a bit iffy and the lighting in many scenes seems designed to conceal rather than illuminate. Tom Conti sleepwalks through his first big-screen role, but then his character (high powered marketing executive with no interest in pop music) is fairly one dimensional, anyway. Johnnie Shannon, however, as the low-life agent who dumps the band and then tries to get his hooks back into them when they make it big, is excellent as the thug with a friendly face.
Surprisingly, the members of Slade make a decent fist of the acting, and the soundtrack contain two bona fide classics among the more bog-standard 12-bar fare. Don Powell has a couple of decent slapstick moments, Noddy and Jim have some good confrontation chemistry going, and Dave Hill plays an annoying buck-toothed twot with a stupid haircut ...
Though it is probably no better than a decent episode of "Aud Wiedersehen, Pet", its saving graces are its gritty authenticity and the songs. I particularly enjoyed the machine gun assault on the pirate radio station in the Thames Estuary (Radio City) - it impressed my kids no end when I told them this actually happened in real life and it was later confirmed by Noddy Holder in the "extra features" interview.
Finding Nemo (2003)
More of an adventure than a comedy
Took my nine-year-old son to this. I nearly fell asleep during it, so I was curious as to his opinion. Grudgingly, he said it was "OK".
The animation was, as ever, fantastic - more so the backgrounds than the main characters (fish are not that expressive) - but the story lacked the lightness of touch and invention of other Pixar titles; some of the jokes were, I felt, a bit laboured (vegetarian sharks?)
Quite tense and exciting in places but I only laughed once and my son not at all.
Ice Age (2002)
Surprisingly low key
Saw this at the cinema with the kids and it barely held my interest. Eldest son (aged 12) fell asleep so we got it out on video and guess what? He fell asleep again.
It's quite a charming film but the gentle pace does not suit the Chuck Jones style gags it tries to pull off.
Big Fat Liar (2002)
Not bad, but it's no Ferris Bueller.
I probably would have liked this a lot more had I not already seen (and been a big fan of) Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The central characters in both films are charming liars who always seem to get away with things. The main difference is that the (main) target audience for Big Fat Liar is pitched about 3 to 5 years below that of Ferris Bueller.
My kids enjoyed it whilst it was on but it failed the "endlessly repeat the best bits after the film" test.
Doctor in Distress (1963)
Spot the TV sitcom actor
The usual formula for this series featuring the urbane Bogarde, the irascible Robertson-Justice and - pardon my political incorrectness - some top notch tottie.
Probably considered quite risque in its time but hardly likely to provoke an "ooh err, missus!" these days, it mostly raises smiles rather than laughs although the odd bits of slapstick made my 7 year old son laugh.
Perhaps the most fun is to be had spotting future starts down the cast list: Richard Briers (The Good Life), John Bluthal (Vicar of Dibley), the uncredited Denise Coffee (Do Not Adjust Your Set), Ronnie Barker (Two Ronnies) and Derek Fowlds (Yes, Minister) are all here, not to mention Frank Finlay (Casanova) and Leo McKern (Rumpole of the Bailey). No Richard Wattis or John Le Mesurier though - they must have been working on 5 other British comedies that week.