Screen_Talent

I'm normally a fan of the work of Barry Levinson and Art Linson, so was looking forward to this. But for me, a great cast, and a good enough script was spoilt by unnecessarily arty cinematography and positively eccentric editing. Made the whole thing a struggle to watch, and so I was glad when it got to the end.

Why do directors want to make their films look like a music video, and make us struggle to make out what's happening on the screen? Speeded up sequences of LA night-time traffic, for example. What were they doing there? Added nothing to the story, and if anything, demeaned it. I notice the cinematographer is French. Couldn't they find a good one in LA?

Just when you think British 'comedy' TV can't get any worse and has hit rock bottom, you find there's a whole new bottom that you didn't know existed below where you thought the bottom was. And this is it. Where do you start? Perhaps with the monumentally unfunny, cliché-laden script. Then, there's a particularly hideous and deeply unlikeable cast. Of all the great actors unemployed at any one time, is this the best that the producers can come up with? The whole mixture is directed with negligible skill, and it's impossible to think that anyone over the age of 13 will find this even faintly amusing. Jokes about penises and wanking abound. Oh, great. Watching the show is a miserable and thankless task. And an utter waste of time for all concerned. 0 out of 10.

I was vaguely aware of this film before it was released, and I must admit, there was little about it that was compelling me to see it. But I watched it on DVD the other night, and thought it was easily one of the best British pictures of the last few years. It's a compelling story, and in spite of all the profanity, the vomiting and the many puerile outbursts, we really do engage with Noah, performed brilliantly by Peter Howitt. It's a gem of a film, and how it bypassed cinemas when so many truly appalling films find their way to multiplexes up and down the country is a mystery to me. Find it on DVD. And I defy anyone not to enjoy it.