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Amazon.co.uk Review
Michael Winterbottom is no stranger to literary adaptation. Both Jude and The Claim were drawn from works by Thomas Hardy. Nor is the versatile filmmaker a stranger to the post-modern romp, like 24 Hour Party People. In that peon to Manchester's music scene, Steve Coogan was Factory honcho Tony Wilson. In Winterbottom's take on Laurence Sterne's digressive The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, the prolific helmer combines literature with lunacy and brings Coogan back as the titular character--and then some. Coogan doesn't just portray the 18th century squire, but his father Walter and insecure actor "Steve Coogan." It's a film about the making of a film, effortlessly shifting between Tristram's tumultuous birth and his frustrated adulthood--bogged down in the writing of his life story--and between fiction and (what appears to be) fact. There are no end to the worries on and off the set: Coogan worries his heels aren't high enough, Rob Brydon worries his teeth are too yellow, and Coogan's girlfriend (Kelly Macdonald) worries she isn't seeing enough of him. It may sound like Spike Jonze's Adaptation, but in spirit, it more closely resembles Tony Richardson's Tom Jones. Coogan and his co-stars, particularly Naomie Harris as the ultimate film nut, Gillian Anderson as the American brought in to boost the project's profile, and Brydon as Tristram's Uncle Toby are as game for the challenge as their fearless leader. Consequently, Tristram Shandy isn't just one of Winterbottom's best films--it's one of the year's best. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Cock and Bull Story.,
This review is from: A Cock And Bull Story [DVD] [2006] (DVD)
Odd. Slightly confusing. Lacking in traditional structure...yes.
Intelligent. Chuckle-worthy. Original... Definitely. A film, about a film about an unfilmable book. A strange movie, undoubtedly and at first I didn't know how to take it. Was it a love story? Was it a mockumentary? One thing was certain...it was definitely a comedy. Quirky, off-the-wall jokes typical of Steve Coogan's works were a constant in this film. My favourite aspect of this film was its combination of realism and surrealism making the movie delightful to watch. But another outstanding aspect was its portrayal of relationships; be it the clashing single-sided friendship of Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan, Steve's clashing relationship with the entire crew, Steve's failing relationship with his girlfriend and his sucessful relationship with his new mistress it was all delightful. The "actors", or the actors portrayal of the actors,'s view of the film at the end of the film was a definite favourite scene. They say that "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy" is the unfilmable novel, and similarly this film is the unreviewable film. I cannot guarantee you'll love it, but it's definitely a one-of-a-kind and definitely worth the risk.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A film of two halves and too many half-measures,
By
This review is from: A Cock And Bull Story [DVD] [2006] (DVD)
True to the style of the novel until it becomes sidetracked, prolific underachiever Michael Winterbottom's riff on Tristram Shandy, A Cock and Bull Story is a half-decent attempt to film an allegedly unfilmable novel, something it does surprisingly well for about half an hour until it gives up and concentrates instead on the travails of making the movie and the growing paranoia of leading man Steve Coogan as he is increasingly upstaged by Rob Brydon. Unfortunately, as so often on the big screen, Coogan is decidedly awkward at first, and the comedy isn't as biting or funny as you'd like, relying a little too awkwardly on injokes. All too obviously a film of two halves, with the backstage story taking over the movie completely for the best part of an hour before returning to the narrative briefly, it's hard not to feel it would have benefited more from dipping in and out of the novel rather than abandoning it for so long. But there's still much to enjoy, not least Rob Brydon playing a love scene in the style of Roger Moore, though it falls far short of Coogan and Winterbottom's previous collaboration, the excellent 24 Hour Party People.
Although at first sight fairly skimpy on the extras, the DVD offers surprisingly good value - not only does the full interview with Tony Wilson (who Coogan played in 24 Hour Party People) appear as promised in the film, but the deleted and extended sequences, though few in number, are longer than expected.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reel Moviemaking,
By
This review is from: A Cock And Bull Story [DVD] [2006] (DVD)
The British director, Michael Winterbottom, has become renowned for his manner, which comprises in having no manner at all. Each movie is pronouncedly different from the last, as if he relishes having the chance to try his hand at all genres and in all styles. But `A Cock & Bull Story' - an attempt to film Laurence Sterne's eighteenth-century novel-cum-autobiography-cum-whatever `The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy' - is in a league of its own, because it is a postmodern-ish take on a pre-postmodern-ish work of fiction. To talk of a film within a film within a film is too crude. If you like playfulness, you'll love it; if you want a linear narrative with a beginning, an ending, and a plot inbetween, then go elsewhere. Sterne himself said "Life is a cock and bull story", i.e. a joke, so perhaps we should leave it at that.
So, how to describe this film to someone who has never seen it? Well, for a start it is quite indescribable. It can be viewed from innumerable angles, but for me the most cogent is that of the process of moviemaking itself. But the more times I see this film, the more I see it differently; I am never bored, and I would not be surprised if in ten years' time it starts to appear on those list of best-films-of-all-time by the critics. There are clever and witty observations and improvisations by Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in the accompanying commentary, which they claim to have done naked. Other extras include the complete Steve Coogan/Tony Wilson interview, three deleted scenes, and four scene extensions. The additional behind-the-scenes footage includes a highly interesting sixteen-minute tour of Shandy Hall with Stephen Fry and Patrick Wildgust (sic). All-in-all, this is a very generous package, but with neither sight nor sound of Michael Winterbottom himself (well, not much).
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