Prime Time: Bill (2015)

If you enjoy the Horrible Histories series, or movie (which uses the brand, but doesn't use the same people), and if you enjoy Ghosts (the British incarnation, which features a lot of the same people both behind and in front of the camera), then you should find Bill an very enjoyable and amusing slice of hysterical historical entertainment. Okay, it may not be hysterical, but that sentence was too tempting for me. It IS very funny though.

Matthew Baynton plays the Bill of the title. William is his proper name, of course. William Shakespeare. Shakespeare wants to become a celebrated playwright, of course, but doesn’t seem to have the skillset required. That doesn’t stop him from persevering though, and he is soon tasked with writing “the greatest play ever performed” for an Earl (Simon Farnaby) who has himself oversold his own talent to a demanding Queen Elizabeth I (Helen McCrory). The play will be the backdrop for a very important meeting between the Queen and King Phillip II of Spain (Ben Willbond), the latter arriving on the shores of Britain with a band of schemers and killers he hopes will help him take over the reign of the country, and pressure keeps mounting on Shakespeare. Pulled in numerous directions at once, our writer at least has the help of one Christopher Marlowe (Jim Howick) to get the play finished.

Co-written by Laurence Rickard (who also features onscreen) and the aforementioned Willbond, Bill is a lively and lovely collage of silliness, mixing smart and sly gags with wonderful absurdity and cheesy puns. Those who know a bit more about the main characters will find the film slightly more rewarding, but almost everything is designed to allow newcomers a near-equal amount of enjoyment. Director Richard Bracewell doesn’t do anything special, but he makes the savvy decision to work perfectly in service of the script and performances, resulting in something that is more focused on being entertaining than being stylish and cinematic.

Everyone involved tends to take on multiple roles, giving the whole thing a wonderful “let’s put on a show” atmosphere throughout, but Baynton, Farnaby,Willbond, and Howick are consistently excellent in any one of their varied roles (although it should be said that Farnaby remains a top scene-stealer, particularly when playing a Spanish assassin). Martha Howe-Douglas does a good job in the role of the exasperated Anne Hathaway, worrying about the career prospects of a husband who seems to have his head in the clouds, and also has fun portraying other characters, and McCrory gives much-needed weight to the pivotal role of Queen Elizabeth I, wisely delivering the most serious performance amidst the unfolding chaos and gags.

I had a great time with this, but I know I am pre-disposed to this kind of thing (having enjoyed the work of all the main performers in similar works). It’s hard to imagine anyone actively hating this, especially if you’re after something inoffensive and eager to please,  but I know that some may roll their eyes and groan at the many moments that had me grinning and chuckling. It’s a comedy of errors that some will dismiss as much ado about nothing. I hope more people side with me though,  and you should definitely check out the shows mentioned in the first paragraph if you do enjoy this.

7/10

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Paddington 2 (2017)

I try my best not to mix my own politics with film reviews, unless the films are making a strong political statement or something happens that I find so downright loathsome that I just have to say something. And yet here I am with this review of Paddington 2 and it feels as if I should start off with a bit of a statement.

Don't worry, I believe what I am about to say is actually quite bipartisan, but I suppose that really depends on how you're viewing the world around you. Because that world has been getting a bit crappier and crappier for most of the past few weeks, months, and years. Natural disasters, idiots and criminals in positions of authority, tensions between countries with nuclear weapons, business closures and job losses, murders and cowardly terrorist attacks, and the general downsizing of some of my favourite chocolate bars.

Why am I doing my best to make us all a bit depressed? Well, Paddington 2 is an undeniably fun and lovely film, but it's also the perfect kind of film to make you forget about global problems for a while, and I think the timing may be as much a key to its success as the quality of the film itself.

Returning to helm once more, after doing such a great job with the first movie, director Paul King (also co-writing again, this time with Simon Farnaby, who also has a hilarious cameo) crafts another perfect mix of comedy, sweetness, and sheer entertainment.

The plot revolves around a pop-up book. Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) wants to save up his money and buy it as a great birthday gift for his Aunt Lucy. Which makes it very unfortunate when the book is stolen. And it's even more unfortunate when Paddington is mistaken for the thief, leaving him to spend some time at her majesty's leisure while the cunning thief (Hugh Grant, clearly having a blast) uses the book to decipher a code that he hopes will lead to a heap of treasure. Prison life leads Paddington to meet Knuckles McGinty (Brendan Gleeson), and an unlikely friendship develops. But is that enough to keep our little bear in good spirits while people outside the prison walls try to prove his innocence? Or will a prison break be necessary?

Watching Paddington 2, and enjoying it SO much, got me thinking about both of the Paddington films. They both have the same strengths. First of all, the cast. Most people return here to the roles that they had in the first film, and the cast includes Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Peter Capaldi, Jim Broadbent, Tom Conti, and many, many more. Some scenes are a veritable who's who of British talent. Second, this is how you update a cute character who came to prominence in what might be labelled more innocent times. Paddington Bear isn't the type of youngster who has grown up with Twitter and Facebook, he doesn't have a smartphone in his pocket, and a lot of his values are as naive as they are admirable. But keeping him that way, almost a wide-eyed innocent often wrong-footed by the world around him, makes him a great character at the heart of these stories. And the fact that he never doubts himself, the fact that he always treats everyone the same way, makes it easier to accept those reciprocating his kindness and selflessness in a way that somehow doesn't feel too schmaltzy and annoying.

There are other reasons for the films being so successful, of course. The production design, the visuals, the CGI, the music, the pacing, every aspect of the film feels like it has been given due care and consideration. The script balances out the jokes with the emotional content, nicely weighting things on one end or the other through alternating scenes, and both major elements work. And I think I already mentioned Hugh Grant. He may be portraying a very different kind of villain from the character played by Nicole Kidman in the first film, but that doesn't make him less of a threat. He's the type that you want to boo and hiss at, even while laughing at his vanity and showiness (he plays a hammy actor who hasn't starred in a hit for quite some time - at least those costumes he has will help him in a variety of different disguises).

I haven't taken the time to rattle through the entire cast and sing their praises because this is an ensemble piece that brings the best out of everyone, whether they're onscreen for ten seconds or one hundred minutes. You don't view Hawkins, Bonneville, and co. as the supporting cast. You view them as the Browns. You don't spend the film contemplating how good Whishaw is in his voice role, you just accept that he's Paddington. And so on.

There's not much more I can say about it. I don't agree with some who think this sequel is superior to the first movie, but I couldn't say that it's inferior either. I rate both the same, and recommend picking up a nice double-bill immediately if you've somehow avoided either film until now. Buy the films, clear your schedules, make yourself a nice plate of marmalade sandwiches, and then sit down and press play. You'll thank me for it.

9/10

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