therealgoatee
Joined Sep 2000
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Reviews5
therealgoatee's rating
David Threlfall is suitably menacing as a psychotic loner who, stuck with the murdered body of his local curry house, has nothing to do but prepare for his regular sexual encounter with a tub of Ben And Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream and a local am-dram actress with a passing resemblance to Julie Andrews. His evening is ruined when a succession of visitors invite themselves in.
What follows is described by the tagline as containing "moments of inoffensive material". The language is strong, the violence is graphic, the sexual content is unseen but highly dubious. Many people will take exception to the depiction of Jesus Christ as a strapping black man with a huge Afro hairdo, who sits benignly through all the various shenanigans, smiling or laughing quietly to himself. Some people may even be offended by the suggestion that Julie Andrews (in her Sound Of Music novice nun role) is the object of a bizarre sexual fetish.
No matter. The film is not, it turns out, as offensive as it tries to be. In particular, the violence fails to shock because we are expecting it throughout. Of course, we know something that the other characters don't, namely, that Donald is a homicidal maniac.
The film is shot on DV and its limitations are clear; the lighting is patchy and the colour balance is inconsistent.
I really wanted to like this film. Its premise is excellent and it has obviously been assembled with more care than the average British independent film. There are a couple of nice touches and special effects that are slightly unexpected in a film of this genre. However, it is only funny in patches rather than humorous throughout and it is difficult to see where much of the budget has been spent. It is also claustrophobic, most of the action situated in only one room. If it had been a play, the critics would have raved; as a film, Chunky Monkey looks set to be overlooked.
What follows is described by the tagline as containing "moments of inoffensive material". The language is strong, the violence is graphic, the sexual content is unseen but highly dubious. Many people will take exception to the depiction of Jesus Christ as a strapping black man with a huge Afro hairdo, who sits benignly through all the various shenanigans, smiling or laughing quietly to himself. Some people may even be offended by the suggestion that Julie Andrews (in her Sound Of Music novice nun role) is the object of a bizarre sexual fetish.
No matter. The film is not, it turns out, as offensive as it tries to be. In particular, the violence fails to shock because we are expecting it throughout. Of course, we know something that the other characters don't, namely, that Donald is a homicidal maniac.
The film is shot on DV and its limitations are clear; the lighting is patchy and the colour balance is inconsistent.
I really wanted to like this film. Its premise is excellent and it has obviously been assembled with more care than the average British independent film. There are a couple of nice touches and special effects that are slightly unexpected in a film of this genre. However, it is only funny in patches rather than humorous throughout and it is difficult to see where much of the budget has been spent. It is also claustrophobic, most of the action situated in only one room. If it had been a play, the critics would have raved; as a film, Chunky Monkey looks set to be overlooked.
First things first: this film was obviously made for a tiny fraction of the budget most Hollywood films get. Sometimes there are errors. The colour balance wobbles and every now and again you can spot the shadows or reflections of members of the crew.
It's also mostly an unknown cast. Colin Ferguson is the nearest thing the show has to a star but is probably to be remembered mostly for his turn in the ill-fated US version of Coupling.
Finally, the film is in danger of veering towards vanity-project territory, with Garrett Rice not only nabbing writer, producer and director credits, but also playing in the band that provides the songs.
Fortunately, none of that really matters - it's a charming, if rather lightweight, story that neatly transposes many of the usual chick-flick conventions.
It's also (perhaps a little surprisingly) really quite funny. Some characters are there "just for laughs" - our hero's geeky housemate, for example - but unlike certain other films of the genre, they don't start to irritate after about five seconds of screen time.
But ultimately, it works because it's believable and the performances are honest: you can see and sympathise with our hero's anger at his betrayal, then his frustration at the realisation that he still wants the girl. It's an uncomplicated, undemanding film but an entertaining one.
It's also mostly an unknown cast. Colin Ferguson is the nearest thing the show has to a star but is probably to be remembered mostly for his turn in the ill-fated US version of Coupling.
Finally, the film is in danger of veering towards vanity-project territory, with Garrett Rice not only nabbing writer, producer and director credits, but also playing in the band that provides the songs.
Fortunately, none of that really matters - it's a charming, if rather lightweight, story that neatly transposes many of the usual chick-flick conventions.
It's also (perhaps a little surprisingly) really quite funny. Some characters are there "just for laughs" - our hero's geeky housemate, for example - but unlike certain other films of the genre, they don't start to irritate after about five seconds of screen time.
But ultimately, it works because it's believable and the performances are honest: you can see and sympathise with our hero's anger at his betrayal, then his frustration at the realisation that he still wants the girl. It's an uncomplicated, undemanding film but an entertaining one.
Club Le Monde is a very rare film indeed: a completely independent British film with the quality, charm and good-humour to deserve massive commercial success. Whether it achieves this remains to be seen, but it certainly should.
Set in a seedy nightclub in 1993, the film follows a large ensemble cast as they spend the night drinking, dancing, trying to have sex, taking drugs and piercing parts of their bodies. What could have been a confusing melee of characters - some of whom appear and disappear within a few minutes - is, in fact, an easy-to-follow and downright hilarious story of a bunch of strangers simply having a good time.
Such is the quality of the script that the whole experience of watching Club Le Monde feels much like a night out in a club in its own right. Things start slowly; people come and go; things start to heat up; you start to recognise some of the people around the place; and by the end, the audience is left feeling exhausted, that they've had an exciting, if relatively harmless and meaningless, time.
Simon Rumley has enjoyed enormous critical, if not commercial, success in his films to date. This one leaves his previous work far behind, inasmuch as it is a fully-rounded masterwork from someone who truly seems to understand his peers and the English language.
Set in a seedy nightclub in 1993, the film follows a large ensemble cast as they spend the night drinking, dancing, trying to have sex, taking drugs and piercing parts of their bodies. What could have been a confusing melee of characters - some of whom appear and disappear within a few minutes - is, in fact, an easy-to-follow and downright hilarious story of a bunch of strangers simply having a good time.
Such is the quality of the script that the whole experience of watching Club Le Monde feels much like a night out in a club in its own right. Things start slowly; people come and go; things start to heat up; you start to recognise some of the people around the place; and by the end, the audience is left feeling exhausted, that they've had an exciting, if relatively harmless and meaningless, time.
Simon Rumley has enjoyed enormous critical, if not commercial, success in his films to date. This one leaves his previous work far behind, inasmuch as it is a fully-rounded masterwork from someone who truly seems to understand his peers and the English language.