A Cock And Bull Story
I seem to start every review lately with the refrain "It's been a while since I've written a review..." (or words to that effect) and this one will be no different. Therefore...
It's been a while since I wrote a review... this is partly down to lack of time, and partly down to lack of filmic input. We did, however, watch A Cock And Bull Story the other night and, while it was no earth-shattering masterpiece, it was interesting enough to warrant cobbling a few words together.
The film, at least in part, is an adaptation of the novel Tristram Shandy. I've never read the novel but apparently it's famously unfilmable and I imagine if I had read it I'd appreciate more of the humour. I'm basing that on the assumption that the screenwriter, in tackling a famously unfilmable novel, knew what he was doing. It turns out, however, that the writer (pseudonymous) and director (Michael Winterbottom) had something of a feud over the script so it's possible that one or more of them were on the wrong track. Whatever happened behind the scenes, the final product is enjoyable if a little muddled.
Nevertheless, in light of those issues the opening scene has a perhaps unintended irony. This pre-credits sequence features Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon out of character (or, more accurately, features Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing themselves) in a scene which establishes Brydon as a mass of inconsequential insecurities while setting up Coogan as someone preoccupied with the risk of being upstaged by Brydon.
We then go ahead with 30 minutes of a spirited and entertaining adaptation of the novel, complete with wigs and period costumes. This rather cleverly, and abruptly, switches back to the present day simply by having the camera pan over, mid-scene, to show the various crewmembers huddling off-camera.
From that point on we're back in the real world, back to the minutiae of filmmaking, and back to the double act of Coogan and Brydon (which, surely to the screenwriter's chagrin, is undeniably the highlight of the film - something the director and editor acknowledge by bookending the finished film with examples of the duo's bantering. Perhaps unfortunately, this has the side effect of making you wonder how hilarious the film could have been if it were simply Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon bickering for 90 minutes).
I found the rest of the film, while largely plotless, to be the most enjoyable part. This is because I find the filmmaking process quite engaging. Much of the final hour is taken up with two central dilemmas.
The first is Coogan fretting over the constant risk of Brydon upstaging him (pretty brave of Coogan to present himself in this way, although Brydon has also painted an entertainingly negative portrait of himself in his TV show Annually Retentive). This manifests itself in various ways, including casting decisions, Al Pacino impressions and shoes.
The second dilemma is acquiring funding for some extended battle scenes in the final film. Much of the humour in this is best left to the film, but suffice to say that it all comes over as a pretty farcical business (which I'm sure is entirely the case in real life).
A Cock And Bull Story also makes repeated verbal references to Fellini's own film about filmmaking, 8 1/2. As I (shock horror) have never seen this, I can't really comment on whether there are more subtle tie-ins to that film, but again I would imagine this offers further enjoyment for those who are slightly more film-literate than myself.
So, while Cock And Bull is a fun film I suspect a large part of its potential audience might end up being disappointed. If you're after a period drama, or if you're a fan of the novel and eagerly awaiting the adaptation, then you're going to be frustrated by the modern-day shift 30 minutes in.
If you're a fan of Coogan and/or Brydon and are expecting a riotous comedy then you will likely be frustrated by the subtlety of much of the humour - although there are definitely laughs to be had.
Finally, if you're expecting any sort of fully-formed storyline, or even a satisfactory resolution to many of the plot strands, then you will again walk away disappointed.
Nevertheless, I definitely enjoyed this film and while I wouldn't call it a classic by any stretch of the imagination, I would definitely recommend it to the appropriate audience.
al webster September 17, 2006 - 21:34
i loved this film at the cinema. i was in a fairly full screening, and appeared to be the only person enjoying it! the scene with coogan 'acting' the emotions of the hot object in his pants is genius!