Pure Film

Wild Things April 25, 2009

CREDITS: Director: John McNaughton Cast: Kevin Bacon, Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell, Denise Richards, Robert Wagner & Bill Murray USA 1997 (18)

INTRODUCTION: A clever take on America’s so called class system (I’ve never felt that a class system based entirely on income deserves the name) in yet another slice of small town weirdness where the alligators are constantly poking up their noses from the swamp to remind us that there’s danger lurking just beneath the surface here.

SYNOPSIS: Feuding high school students, rich debutante Kelly Van Ryan (Richards) and poor white trash Suzie Toller (Campbell), come forward independently to accuse their counsellor Sam Lombardo (Dillon) of rape. Detective Ray Duquette (Bacon) sets forth on an investigation that reveals more than he ever expected. After this point it’s probably best just to lay back and go with the flow as twist is piled upon twist and turn upon turn, until long after “the end” of the movie.

REVEIW: McNaughton shows the love of excess that established him as a controversial director with “Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer” by producing what is outwardly an attractive Hollywood thriller and adding into to the mix rape, lesbianism, brutal murder, violence, corruption, Richards breasts and Bacons penis.

As for the plot itself, let me assure you that Occam’s Razor does not apply here, with the choice of two explanations it is not the simplest, in fact it’s often not even the second simplest, it is full of mind-blowing twists and turns, very reminiscent of one of my favourite movies of last year, the BAFTA winning “Le Apartment”. I successfully predicted the end of “The Usual Suspects” and “Se7en” (although I must confess I didn’t expect it to be the same guy in both films) but this film left me bewildered. I’m still not entirely certain what happened.

Dillon puts in one of his subtlest performances in years, and Bacon (complete with member) puts in one of his only performances in years. Theresa Russell and Gloria Perez deserve special mention for the performances as Kelly’s mother and Duquette’s partner respectively, both thankless supporting roles that they bring alive. Murray and Wagner turn up for amusing cameos that, while potentially distracting in a film this complex, just add to the fun. However, at the heart of the film is the combined acting talents of Neve Campbell (“Scream”) and Denise Richards (“Starship Troopers”) two hot young actresses from two of the most entertaining movies of last year, and “Wild Things” is in many ways a combination of those two films.
Just as “Scream” parodied the horror genre and “Starship Troopers” parodied militaristic sci-fi genre, so “Wild Things” parodies the crime thriller, subtler than the self referential in-jokes of “Scream” but too self-conscious to play it so straight you’re left wondering if it was parody. As with “Starship Troopers”, “Wild Things” falls somewhere between these two extremes, by portraying a good crime thriller and then taking it a stage further than is realistic.

Let’s not forget that apart from anything else this movie is very useful for anyone playing six degrees of Kevin Bacon, the game briefly mentioned in “Scream 2”, where you must link a Hollywood celebrity to Kevin Bacon via the movies they have appeared in, in less than six moves.

Stylish post-modern take on film noir.

Mutts Rating: ****

Western April 25, 2009

CREDITS: Director: Manuel Poirier. Cast: Sergi Lopez, Sacha Bourdo & Elizabeth Vitali. France (subtitled) 1997 (15).

INTRODUCTION: A wonderfully poetic character study from the arse end of France, that was a truly deserving winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes.

SYNOPSIS: Two strangers thrown together by circumstance discover themselves as they travel across the length and breadth of central Brittany in search of love.

REVIEW: An unusual road movie that covers less than seven miles in over 120 minutes of running time, compared to “Leningrad Cowboys Do America” which went from the Siberian wastes to Mexico via most the United States in less than 90 minutes. This film does however go far further into the characters and explores their inner depths, but one would expect nothing less from the feature debut of Poirier, a former Peruvian social worker..

Lopez beautifully underplays his role as Nino a Catalonian shoe-salesman while Bourdo hams it up as Paco a Russian hitch-hiker, creating one of the most endearing double acts in cinematic history. Vitali and Matheron provide wonderful backup as the objects of Nino and Paco’s affections while Siekoua puts in a show-stealing performance as the wheelchair bound Baptiste.

But the true star of the film is Finisterre in western (hence the title) Brittany, beautifully lensed scenery shown to a Cesar (the French Oscars) winning soundtrack from Bernardo Sandeval creates a truly powerful look at this little known area of France that has been described as the Wales of the continent.

Good morning France.

Mutt’s Rating: ****

Washington Square April 25, 2009

CREDITS: Director: Agnieszka Holland. Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Albert Finney, Ben Chaplin & Maggie Smith. USA 1997 (PG)

INTRODUCTION: Yet another Henry James adaptation trundles off of the production line and onto the silver screen. Is there still a market left for this stuff?

SYNOPSIS: Young heiress Catherine Sloper (Leigh) is wooed by poor lad about town Morris Townsend (Chaplin), despite her complete lack of grace and charm, and while her hormonal aunt and governess (Smith) positively encourages the tryst, her overbearing father (Finney) is, to say the least, less than pleased, believing the boy to be a gold digger.

REVIEW: It was of course all done better by William Wyler with his 1949 big screen adaptation which one legendary costume designer Edith Head won her first Oscar as well as securing the best actress Oscar for a youthful Olivia De Haviland.

While Leigh is wonderfully gawky in the lead role she should not be expecting a repetition of De Haviland’s success. Chaplin plays his difficult part with suitable ambiguity, to leave doubt in the audience’s mind, while Finney is so brilliantly overbearing to dispel aforesaid doubt completely. Meanwhile Smith hams it up in blissful oblivion to her surroundings.

The plot, while far from original, I seem to remember a Henry James novel with a vaguely similar theme, has a wonderfully twisted ending with that fatal 90’s cop out of suddenly turning the heroine into a feminist well ahead of her times.

Uninspired by-the-book (or not as the case may be) adaptation saved by some fine performances.

Mutt’s Rating: **

Wag the Dog April 25, 2009

CREDITS: Director: Barry Levinson Cast: Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman & Woody Harrelson USA 1997 (15)
INTRODUCTION: Filmed almost back to back with the deeply unpopular (around the Lizard’s Lair at least) “Sphere”, Levinson and Hoffman redeemed themselves with this political satire. In complete contrast to the previous film I saw that day, Pedro Almodovar’s “Live Flesh” this one played to a packed Electric Cinema Screen 1, packed curiously enough with Spaniards, but they just seemed to be there for the Fosters commercial. Could it be that I was going to be forced to admit liking a popular film!

SYNOPSIS: Faced with charges of molesting a Fire-Fly Girl (the Girl Scouts are far too powerful in America to risk offending them so film and TV makers tend to invent organisations), just 11 days before the election, the president sends his best spin doctor (DeNiro) into action. This spin doctor employs the assistance of an embittered film producer (Hoffman) to fake a war in Albania to redirect media attention.

REVIEW: It is of course ludicrous to believe that a US president would be so incapable of defending himself against charges of sexual misconduct that he would have to start a war to distract the media, as I’m sure Mr. Clinton would have proven in the Monica Lwenski incident, if it hadn’t been for that unfortunate non-event blowing up in the Gulf and distracting the media’s attention at precisely the wrong time. This is an American film made by Americans primarily for consumption by Americans and yet it has been injected with a healthy dose of cynicism and an underlying anti-American rhetoric. Proof indeed that Hollywood does occasionally produce decent films. The consequences of ‘spin’ is a subject that is very important to me. I already mentioned briefly in my review of “Live Flesh” my distrust of capitalism and the democratic process and one of my heroes, Noam Chomsky (“Manufacturing Consent”), has long warned of the perversion of democracy by media manipulation, and to see even such a diluted version of his theories making it into mainstream cinema is a joy to behold. OK, so it didn’t give me a spontaneous orgasm but it came embarrassingly close.

An amusing picture with a deadly serious message.

Mutt’s Rating: ***

Un Air De Famille April 25, 2009

CREDITS: Director: Cedric Klapisch Cast: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Agnes Jaoui & Jean Pierre Daroussin France 1996 (15)

INTRODUCTION: Yet another slice of continental life, but fortunately this time round, unlike “Marius Et Jeannete”, it is one that I am much more readily able to identify with.

SYNOPSIS: A severely dysfunctional family gathers together at “The Sleepy Dad Caf‚” to celebrate one of their numbers birthday, but as the night wears on the gloves come off and long held animosities and neuroses get aired.

REVIEW: A cornucopia of basic character types, we have gathered together here, the overbearing Mother, the apple of her eye ,successful business man son, his dim but well meaning corporate wife (the birthday girl), the underachieving brother, the rebellious sister, the outsider boyfriend and the crippled dog. OK maybe that one’s not a basic character type, but the rest are instantly identifiable with people we all know.

It is this instant familiarity that makes this such a wonderful character study, as the story winds its way through various catastrophes and confrontations, we sympathise with some and are angered by others, but still love them all, because, after all, they are our friends and family. Or is it just me?

A downbeat film, the sets are bedraggled, the locations decrepit and the cinematography heightens the sense of tension and ill-ease with subdued lighting and the constantly interrupting buzz of the fly killer, but given an up-beat feel, thanks to the cast, as the hopes and dreams of the characters outshine their surroundings.

French story telling at its best, with a marvellous cast, and a touch of sly Gallic humour.

Mutt’s Rating: ****

Twilight of the Ice Nymphs April 25, 2009

CREDITS: Director: Guy Maddin Cast: Nigel Whitman, Pascale Bussieres, Shelley Duvall, Frank Gorshin, Alice Krige & R.H. Thomson Canada 1997

INTRODUCTION: More weirdness from those Kooky Canadians, as Maddin provides us with a slice of surrealism.

SYNOPSIS: Returning home to Mandragora from years of incarceration Peter (Whitman) faces difficulties re-adjusting to life on the Ostrich farm. His sister Amelia (Duvall) has fallen for the sinister Dr. Solti (Thomson), farm hand Cain (Gorshin) schemes to take over the farm, and last but not least Peter is in love with two women, the mysterious Julianna (Bussieres), and the wood nymph Zephyr (Krige).

REVIEW: At times reminiscent of a Shakespearean comedy, the film never-the-less entertains, annoys and confuses with equal propensity. Loosely based on Knut Hamsun’s novel “Pan” the film is a worthy successor to Maddin’s previous productions “Tales from the Gumli Hospital”, “Archangel” and “Careful” and indicates a new level of maturity in the director’s first true colour film.

The entire cast is excellent, it’s good to see stalwarts Duvall (“The Shinning” & “Popeye”) and Gorshin (The Riddler in TV’s “Batman”) on top Form. Thomson is excellent as the villain straight out of a German expressionist film of the 20s, Bussieres and Krige (“Star Trek: First Contact”) have harder tasks as the purposely ill defined competitors for Peter’s affections, but are none the less admirable as is Whitman who withdrew his name from the film, look for the noticeable jump in the titles, when Maddin had all his dialogue re-dubbed.

The studio bound sets, reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s “Legend” are sumptuously unrealistic, an effect superbly complimented by the soft focus cinematography and 40s style colours.

A truly magical experience.

Mutt’s Rating: ****

T Rex April 25, 2009

CREDITS: Director: Bret Leonard. Cast: Peter Horton, Liz Stauber, Kari Coleman, Laurie Murdoch & Tuck Milligan. USA 1998.

INTRODUCTION: Computer Generated Imagery of dinosaurs shown in 3D on a screen the size of a small office block, after years of piddling about with crappy travelogues IMAX may finally of come of age and found its killer application.

SYNOPSIS: A potentially fatal climbing accident on a dig in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta leads palaeontologist Dr. Donald Haydon (Horton) and his assistant Elizabeth Sample (Coleman) to uncover a near complete dinosaur skeleton and some unidentified prehistoric artefacts. Meanwhile back at the New York Museum of Natural History, Haydon’s daughter Ally (Stauber) finds herself leading school parties on tours around the museum and writing a thesis on parenting instincts in the Tyrannosaurus Rex, when all she really wants to do is join her father in the field.

Upon his return with the artefacts, Haydon dismisses Ally’s thesis as pure conjecture and refuses her requests for a place on the next expedition. Ally accidentally uncovers the secret of the artefacts and finds herself travelling through time, gathering substantiating proof for her thesis.

She encounters famous early 20th century dinosaur illustrator Charles Knight (Milligan) and bone digger Barnum Brown (Murdoch), a herd of Hadrosaurs, a pair of Deinonychus, a Pteranadon and an Ornithomimus before finally coming nose-to-snout with the Tyrannosaurus Rex itself.

REVIEW: The derivative story is of course perfunctory, merely an excuse for some 70mm 3-D filmic thrills, which “Lawnmower Man” and “Virtuosity” director Bret Leonard, is more than qualified to hand out. Unfortunately he seems to suffer from a fatal moment of indecision unable to decide if he is making a piece of cinema or a theme-park attraction he falls uncomfortably somewhere in between, with not enough thrills to classed as a ride and not enough plot to be classed as a movie,

Coleman, Murdoch & Milligan make the most of their brief guest appearances, while Horton and Stauber struggle with their lead roles, they are however completely out-classed by the virtual members of the cast, but in fairness they are given nothing to work with, their parts are horrendously under-written, giving them little more to do than link the all too brief appearances from the dinosaurs.

Andrew Gellis & Jeanne Rosenberg’s screenplay from as story by Gellis & David Young, seems somewhat confused, despite being well researched, doubtless thanks to the assistance of Dr. Philip Currie, it seems uncertain as to what it is trying to achieve. The scenes with Brown and Knight while giving the audience a good grounding in the history of palaeontology, do little to forward the story, and distract from the 3-D dinosaur action which is surely the true purpose of the film.

The truth is that the age of the blockbuster may at last be over, the paying public it seems is no longer willing to accepts bangs and beasties as a suitable alternative to a good story and believable characterisations. How else do you explain the phenomenal success of such pitifully mediocre movies as “Titanic” and “The Truman Show” while more traditional fayre such as “The Avengers”, “Armageddon” and T-Rex’s closest living relative “Godzilla” bomb. The film scores over “Godzilla” by virtue of the fact that it’s in 3D, it’s on a truly massive screen, and it’s only half the length, leading to a more intense experience, but there are still less thrills here than can be got from a moderately exhilarating theme-park ride. The blockbuster is still a long way off extinction, as the up-coming release of “Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace” will doubtless prove, but the ice-age has set in and IMAX need to take a serious look at the future of their technology.

3-D has come along way since the Creature first crawled out of the Black Lagoon but it still has yet to achieve its promise of giving us a more realistic cinema going experience. Why IMAX feel that the audiences that proved unwilling to don the crappy cardboard glasses of the old days will take to the modern clunky headsets is something of mystery. This is not the only obstacle for the potential audience, as there are only 200 IMAX cinemas in the world, and not all of these can handle 3D, their are only two in this country, and the one that I went to is the Pepsi IMAX in London’s Trocedero which incidentally also contains a couple of moderately exhilarating theme-park rides.

More of an experience than a movie, and an ultimately unfulfilling one at that.

Mutt’s Rating: **

Titanic April 25, 2009

CREDITS: Director: James Cameron Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, David Warner, Kathy Burke, Bill Paxton & Gloria Swanson USA 1997 (12)

INTRODUCTION: I finally got a chance to see this little-known movie as part of the Derby Metro’s ‘All At Sea’ weekend, packaged between “Das Boot” and “Battleship Potemkin”. It never really stood a chance of gaining much recognition, and indeed the turnout was poor, even for an art house audience, it was almost as if the picture had been out months and absolutely everyone had already seen it.

The last thing you would expect from cult action director James Cameron would be a second-rate frock flick, but following on from his string of commercial failures (“The Terminator”, “Aliens”, “Total Recall” & “True Lies”) that is exactly what he has been reduced to doing.

SYNOPSIS: A deranged Billy Zane pursues a young couple around a boat in this tightly scripted thriller, oh no, wait a minute, that was “Deep Calm”. This film follows the allegedly true story of the maiden voyage of the ‘Titanic’ and you would expect nothing could go wrong on an ‘unsinkable’ ship with ‘Captain Birdseye’ (the original, not that new one) at the helm, but without spoiling the ending for you, suffice to say that things do not run smoothly.

REVIEW: What we have here is a minor entry into the disaster canon that at time seems little more than a follow up to “The Abyss” Cameron’s only success to date. Filmed on a shoestring budget, Cameron is forced to eschew the normal exciting effects and sumptuous visuals that have dogged this genre and instead rely solely on a thrilling script and convincing performances to achieve his ends.

The film concentrates so heavily on the star-crossed lovers that the casting becomes a make-or-break decision. Virtual unknown DiCaprio takes on the role of Jack but it is hard to imagine anyone who has gone through puberty falling for his all too boyish charms and the lovely ‘Porky’ Winslet continues her string of bodice rippers, leaving fans to wonder if she will ever find her breakthrough role.

Zane, Warner, Burke, Paxton and Swanson provide the minimal amount of support the script allows them. Indeed my biggest complaint would be that the film was not long enough and we don’t really get time to know any of the other characters , who at times seem little more the set decoration, leading to a distinct lack of interest as we watch them getting killed off. It is a sad state of affairs but the truth is that we don’t know these people so why should we give a damn whether they live or die. Still, Cameron has a habit of releasing special editions of his films (“Aliens”, “The Abyss”, “T2”) so is it too much to hope that he has a longer version waiting in the wings to redress this balance?

While this film will certainly not make Cameron ‘King of the World’ it should have a shot at a couple of the lesser Oscars, Best Makeup, Best Score (despite the atrocious theme tune, don’t give up your day job Ms Dion) and surely a Best Supporting Actress for Gloria Swanson. I doubt that this extraordinarily average movie will reach your local cinema screen, being up against such great productions as ‘Live Flesh’, ‘Bent’ and ‘Sick’ but if it does and you’ve got nothing better to do give it a shot, at least so it has a chance of breaking even.

One for the none-too-fussy members of the predominantly female, ‘Frock Flick’ fraternity.

Mutt’s Rating: ***

The Wishmaster April 25, 2009

CREDITS: Director: Robert Kurtzman Cast: Tammy Leurer, Andrew Divoff, Kane Hodder, Robert Englund, Tony Todd & Chris Lemon. USA 1997 (18)

INTRODUCTION: Undoubtedly the low point of my bank holiday weekend, and that includes the time I was being held by the police, this film, the latest to bear the Wes Craven seal of approval, hits our screens like shit hits a fan. “Scream 2” it ain’t. Hell it ain’t even “The Hills Have Eyes II”.

SYNOPSIS: A Djinn (a malevolent genie) reeks havoc in ancient Persia until the court appointed sorcerer manages to trap it in a gem stone. Cut to present day LA and the Djinn escapes its imprisonment to grant wishes to people whether they like it or not.

REVIEW: OK, so it’s not the most frightening of concepts but remember the old saying “Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.” The Djinn’s power is limited to granting wishes until his rescuer, a young gemologist named Alex, completes her traditional three wishes. But Barbara Eden or Robin Williams this guy ain’t, he grants the wishes in the worst possible way.

Linda Hamilton look-a-like Laurer puts in an adequate performance as our heroine Alex and she is ably supported by a cast of genre regulars including Robert Englund (“Freddy Kruger”), Tony Todd (“Candy Man”), Kane Hodder (“Jason Voorhees”) and Ted Raimi puts in a brief, even by his normally non-epic proportions, appearance. Yet the villain duties are handed over to the decidedly wooden Divoff.

There’s a good showing of horror alumni behind the camera too. Directly behind it is “Nightmare on Elm Street” cameraman Clark Peterson. Directing him is Craven’s long time sparring partner Robert Kurtzman, and this is presumably the reason for Cravens agreement to attaching his name to the flick. Hellraiser script writer Peter Aitkins produces the disappointing story, based on an idea by former Disney exec. Clark Peterson, presumably some sort of backlash at “Aladdin”.

A moderately engaging story-line is dropped and ignored wherever possible, in favour of buckets of gore and bog standard he’s behind you style shocks. This clearly indicates where this flick is coming from, namely the bad old days of 80’s schlock horror and video nasties(*). In this, the age of the Post-modern slasher flick, a la “Scream” & “I Know What You Did Last Summer”, both from the Craven stable, it seems oddly out of place, the sort of relic that you would expect to find in Beumont’s (Englund) museum/gallery. The dullest and most unimaginative denouement in cinematic history leaves the story open for a sequel, but I seriously doubt one will ever be made.

The effects are impressive and gory but one would expect nothing else from Kurtzman the K in KNB, the effect team behind “Reservoir Dogs”, “Mars Attacks!” and “The X-Files”. Ketchup and computer-generated imagery are combined in nauseating perfection.

The scariest thing about the film is, as ever, undoubtedly the audience. I Don’t know what it is about Craven films that draw in the worst cinema audiences imaginable, but there was more than enough spitting on the ceiling, crunching popcorn and talking through the film, to go around. But then that just adds to the atmosphere of a good horror flick doesn’t it? That, and watching them slowly troop out as the effects get bloodier.

I know it’s hard to resist a film with Craven’s name attached, no matter how tenuously, but I wish you’d try.

Mutts Rating: **

* The Lizard would like to disassociate himself and his Lair from this remark. As we all know schlock horror and video nasties are good for the character and are to be recommended to all our readers. I shall be starting a campaign to have them broadcast free to all schools.

The Wedding Singer April 25, 2009

CREDITS: Director: Frank Coraci Cast: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Alexis Arquette, Christine Taylor & Billy Idol. USA 1998 (12)

INTRODUCTION: Another rom-com, not my preferred choice of genre I admit, but fleeing the general chaos and blood letting that accompanies a National Cinema day in Birmingham to Derby where I spent the first, put me at the behest of my host and so the Cheshire Cat’s girlfriend chose it. The Cat himself promptly buggered off to Wales leaving me to face the music, quite literally. However picture this scene from The Wedding Singer Review part 2.

EXT. – UCI CINEMA, DERBY – A DIFFERENT NIGHT

MUTT sneaks out of the foyer into the concealing fog he has had created artificially, and removes his large hat. He is flanked by the CHESHIRE CAT’S GIRLFRIEND.

CHESHIRE CAT’S GIRLFRIEND

You hated it didn’t you?

MUTT

Actually I enjoyed it too.

Surprise ending huh? More than you’ll get from this movie, this was followed by the Devil appearing and asking where he could buy skates.

SYNOPSIS: Failed rocker Robbie Hart (Sandler) turns to singing at weddings to keep him in spangly outfits. Stood-up at his own wedding he is unable to carry on, but he is drawn back into the whole marriage milieu when friend and colleague Julia Sullivan (Barrymore) needs help arranging her own wedding to the odious Glenn (Matthew Gleue).

REVIEW: The plot, from scribe Tim Herlinky (“Happy Gilmore”), is slight and unoriginal, there just to provide a hanger for an overwhelming number of 80’s references and a series of poor gags. Coraci’s direction is ineffectual, and yet somehow the whole thing works. This can only be due to an impressive cast.

Sandler (“Happy Gilmore” & “Billy Madison”), blandly inoffensive as the eponymous wedding singer, is the latest ‘Saturday Night Live’ alumni to flesh out one of his skit characters for the big screen a la “Wayne’s World” & “Blues Brothers”. But unlike his predecessors Belushi, Murray, Ackroyd, Chase, Myers, Farley, Sandler has no discernible talent. This however could work in his advantage, granting him the kind of career longevity that has eluded (for more obvious reason in the cases of Belushi and Farley) the previously mentioned ensemble.

Barrymore, herself an icon of the 80’s, steals the show as the loveable Julia. It is good to see her at last getting some reasonable parts, following her post child star, wilderness years in such straight-to-video classics as “Gun Crazy” and “Poison Ivy”. I’ve always taken an interest in her roller-coaster career as we are the same age, and nothing to do with the fact that she is incredibly sexy.

Of the supporting cast Arquette deserves special mention for his performance as the Boy George clone George. Jon Lovitz and Steve Buscemi put in un-credited guest appearances as respectively a rival wedding singer and a drunk whose life is turned around by Robbie. Last but not least Billy Idol turns up all too convincingly as himself.

The film attempts to do for the 80’s what “Boogie Nights” & “Velvet Underground” did for the 70’s namely create a retro cool based on how un-cool it was first time round. The wonders of the ironic 90’s at work. The sound track is of course key to this and with hits from Nena, Wham!, Buggles, Thompson Twins, Lionel Ritchie, Kajagoogoo, Culture Club, Musical Youth and of course Billy Idol, the film does as good a job recapturing the sounds of the 80’s as it does the fashions and styles.

But like many of the people this film is aimed at, namely those who grew up in the 80’s, my memories of the 80’s are mostly bad, the Falklands’ conflict, the miner’s strike, Thatcherism, Reaganomics and galloping capitalism. Indeed the film has a very 90’s moral; love wins out over money, the yuppie Glen is vanquished by the slacker Robbie, all very un-80’s. An 80’s revival! Personally I can’t think of anything worse, and this is why I believe (hope) the attempt will ultimately fail.

As sex comedies go this one is above average, what I want to know is when are we going to have some extreme sex comedies.

Mutt’s Rating: ****

I’m scared Lizard, something’s very wrong, we’re agreeing again.