A Cock and Bull Story (2005) August 30, 2006
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: Michael Winterbottom
Shooting a movie can be a tortuous experience, or so I’ve heard. Egotistical actors, dwindling budget money, multiple script revisions and worried financiers are just some of the problems facing filmmakers today. But when you’re trying to shoot a so-called ‘unfilmable’ novel surely the task becomes nigh on impossible? Well that’s the subject of this multi-layered comedy from genre-defying British director Michael Winterbottom.
The action plays out over different levels with some actors playing characterised versions of themselves as well as actual characters from the novel. The movie within the movie is an adaptation of ‘The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman’, with Steve Coogan playing Tristram (and his father Walter Shandy). Meanwhile Rob Brydon plays his uncle, war-veteran Toby Shandy. Over this we have Steve Coogan narrating as Tristram, occasionally interrupting the scene and talking to the characters. Pulling out further we see Steve & Rob as slightly skewed versions of themselves, making the film and going through all their own personal problems as well. It seems odd, but it’s actually very clear in the movie.
I was really looking forward to seeing this as I’m a big fan of Steve Coogan & Rob Brydon’s television work, and the funniest moments come from the duo just ad-libbing, usually having some strange discussion or meaningless disagreement. There is a nice running joke about Steve being worried that Rob will upstage him, and managing to flout his ego whenever possible complaining about everything from the size of his part to the height of his shoes. And it’s good to see other British comedians such as Dylan Morgan & David Walliams take on small parts. We’ve seen Michael Winterbottom attempt numerous styles of movie with varying results but he pulls this one off well, even dropping in some fine cinematography for a primary dialog-driven film.
In the end though, I was slightly disappointed. It’s mentioned that the book is extremely sporadic and cluttered (it is supposed to be about Tristram’s life, but he isn’t even born by the end), so this is reflected by the strange layering of the stories which never allows for a clear focus. This hinders the film, and causes very few of the interesting story points to be carried through to the end. Don’t get me wrong, this movie is funny when it wants to be, it’s just that the chosen storytelling method is not for everyone.
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