Marvellous

Peter Bowker's script tells the real-life story of Neil Baldwin (Toby Jones), who overcame his learning difficulties to become a stalwart member of Stoke City F.C.'s backroom staff under manager Lou Macari (Tony Curran), as well as undertaking a variety of other jobs such as greeting new freshmen and women at Keele University and running his own soccer team.

The production ingeniously combines dramatic action with brief interludes in which the fictional Neil encounters the real Neil and asks him questions about his life. This dramatic strategy draws attention to Baldwin's optimistic outlook on life, his enduring faith in God, and his belief that people are basically good-natured. Such qualities have given him the strength to cope with life, especially the trauma of losing his mother (played by Gemma Jones in the film).

MARVELLOUS also includes musical interludes, in which a choir sings popular songs, both secular and religious ("The Lord's My Shepherd I'll Not Want") accompanied by ukuleles. During one such sequence we see the fictional Neil participating, even though he does not really feel like it in the wake of his mother's death. Such scenes emphasize the importance of community spirit to Neil's life as a means of providing him with emotional and physical support. They serve as a musical counterpoint to the sequences set in the changing-rooms of Stoke City F.C., where Neil listens to (and sometimes participates) in the banter between Macari and his players.

Julian Farino's production eschews historical accuracy for dramatic effect; we learn at the end that Neil has worked at Keele for nearly half a century, yet the bulk of the action appears to be set in the late Eighties and early Nineties (judging from the age of the cars seen in the background). Such strategies emphasize the timelessness of the tale; we are not witnessing a period drama per se, but a triumphant chronicle of an individual overcoming adversity and carving out a niche for himself that is both professionally and personally satisfying.

Toby Jones gives a memorable performance as Neil. This versatile actor, who moves from film, to television and radio with equal facility, portrays the central character as someone whose naivété is particularly endearing. His capacity for ending conversations with logical non sequiturs is amazing, rendering his friends and acquaintances absolutely speechless. Jones' most memorable moment comes in a sequence just after his mother's death, when he sits alone in his cluttered apartment, staring at the wall, and bursts into floods of tears as he finally understands that he is now totally alone. But, true to form, he surmounts this loss and ends up achieving one of his cherished ambitions; to play for Stoke City (even if it is only a testimonial match).

MARVELLOUS is one of those understated dramas that British television does really well. Full of unexpected pleasures as well as some extremely funny lines, it deserves to be considered a modern classic.

Directed by Julian Farino and written by Peter Bowker, this film tells the story of Neil Baldwin as he goes through his life following his ambitions. Early in his life Neil is considered to have learning difficulties, but this never stops him. He joins the circus because he wants to and becomes Nello the Clown. When the circus leaves him behind his mothers tells him he needs a job, but it's ok, he finds his way to Keele University where welcome new students and runs the football team. When his mother mentions that he needs financial stability, it is ok because he gets a job at his beloved Stoke city as a mascot and kitman. Along the way he meets Tony Benn in the House of Commons, he meets and befriends Prince Andrew, he plays in a testimonial match for Stoke City and (almost) scores the winning goal (ok, nowhere near!), he gets to sit with the race officials at the Oxbridge boat race - all because he just asks to do it. Neil goes to prove that with the right attitude and outlook on life, anything is possible and that we are only restricted by ourselves.

Toby Jones brings Neil "Nello" Baldwin to life in this biopic and he does a fantastic job. There are scenes scattered through this film where the real Neil Baldwin sits alongside Toby Jones and it's plain to see that they aren't identical, but what Jones does is bring the character to life in all his glory, and importantly he brings Baldwin's story to life. As Hollywood often discovers, you can throw millions and billions of dollars and special effects at a movie and sometimes it lacks a heart to make it noteworthy. This film does quite the opposite, like it's source material it has a massive heart, and that is enough to really engage the audience and let them fall in love with Baldwin, like so many people who have met him have done too.

This is a fun and uplifting film that has the ability to warm the heart and give its audience a range of emotions. You would be forgiven for thinking that some parts of the film are made up due to how bizarre they are, but in truth the only things that are really made up are some of the scenery and environments that Jones is filmed in (for example, Stoke City had moved to the Britannia Stadium long before the film was made and their old Victoria ground had been knocked down. The film used Crewe Alexandra's ground as well as Wrexham's to get around this.). I could happily recommend this to anyone as a down to earth, feel-good film that would suit a wide audience and have something there for everyone. It is comparable to other kitchen-sink British media experienced and it uses some old-school approaches to present itself, as well as some more modern techniques too. A joy to watch and deserving of the name on the box, this truly is "Marvellous".

Marvellous is such a small movie in scope and ambition that it shouldn't really register.

It was made for UK TV and not overly hyped, yet it turns out to be a career defining work for an actor that has already had all manner of praise heaped on him for his role in Infamous and his many franchise movie roles (Potter, Hunger Games and The Muppets.).

Like his contemporary Michael Sheen (Cloughie in The Damned United and David Frost in Frost/Nixon) he is adept at playing performances that impersonate the stars (Truman Capote in Infamous). Only this time the star is not really anyone outside of Stoke has ever heard of.

He plays, Neil (Nello) Baldwin, a small guy with learning difficulties who has no fear of the conventions of life because the fear button in his brain is switched off. The result is an outrageous journey of hope over fear, joy over sadness and opportunity over failure.

A clown. Stoke City's kit manager. University of Keele doer. Crazy jobs each and all. And all brought to life by this amazing man's unique personality.

Three times I wept. It's a joyous movie but has deeply sad moments and is an absolute must see.

I came across this movie and after reading a few reviews, I thought it was worth giving it a go. Well, I am glad I did because it has to be one of the best I have seen this year.

The story of a man with learning disabilities who goes through life without a care in the world and gets pretty much all he wishes for by simply asking for it. People who come across him just fall in love with his personality, to the point that they feel blessed to have met him and have him in their lives.

In a world as critical as ours, it's magical to see that a man like Nello can become such an icon. Not only is he a sports personality and a circus celebrity. He is now also a movie star!!

This may well be his first and last movie, but it could not be a better way to start. Or finish.

This film is the true story of Neil Baldwin, a man diagnosed with learning difficulties as a child but one who counts royalty and bishops among his close friends, has connections across the world of English football, was given an honorary degree by Keele University, and worked as kit man for Stoke City. I guess to deliver this film there were many ways that the film could have gone, but it was a very wise decision to make the film very much in the style of Neil himself – gentle, unassuming, self-assured, and totally unthreatening. The story opens with Neil abandoned by his circus employer, although hardly put out by it, he simply walks to a church where he is able to get help – not by charm or force, but just by an apparent lack of awareness of "normal" society.

This continues through the film and we see someone who just put his mind to things, decided he would do something, and did it. It is a story that is very well told by the film because it manages to be uplifting, funny, sad, hopeful, and genuinely warming to watch. It is not that he deserves great awards or knighthoods as some have suggested, but there is certainly something cheering about a life well lived without seemingly any trace of malice, spite or harm in the man's body. This gentle, honest approach extends to my favorite device of the film, which is to integrate the real Baldwin and the real Lou Macari into the film, to have them sit with the actors while the actors are in character; this device works surprisingly well, not only because it lets us see that us Baldwin really does seem to be the person that we are told, but also so that Baldwin can contribute directly his views on the thing we just saw. It sounds like it shouldn't work, but it works tremendously well.

A big part of it working is that Toby Jones is excellent. He is wonderfully human, determined, and very much in keeping with a simple man with determination and no ill-will. To consider what some actors would do with a "learning difficulties" character, Jones makes it a base for his character but never what or who he is playing; I particularly liked him staying in character while sharing the scene with the real Baldwin – it not only showed how well the character was being delivered, but it also doubled up on the warming effect and gave an unusual device of getting inside the character's head at that moment. The supporting cast are all very good, but the film belongs to Jones and Baldwin.

You will have heard many good things about this film, and maybe it is a bit over-hyped, but that is not to say that it isn't really good. It is a gentle, unassuming little film that will surprise you by how much it does and how well it does it – again, just like Baldwin himself.