Not Only But Always [2004] [DVD]

It's hard to know where to begin discussing this film. It's supposed to be a biography of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, but anyone not already familiar with their lives and work together will have little idea what is going on. Understanding is not helped by the director's artsy (and somewhat lazy) device of using the duo's black and white tv personas to narrate the film and vainly try to fill in its many gaps. In the end, we have a somewhat limited impression of the two men, highlighted by elaborate and rather good impersonations of them, but not quite total performances.

Cook and Moore first found fame in the early 1960s as two of the four performers of the ground breaking satirical revue Beyond The Fringe. The two of them continued to work together for a number of years, most notably on television but also in films and occasional two-man theatre shows that were basically re-workings of their established routines. I remember seeing them in Washington in the 70s when they were doing their "Good Evening" tour. It was a wonderful performance but even more remarkable if we are to believe what this film shows going on behind the scenes at the time.

Like too many biopics, this film pushes the comedians' actual work into the sidelines and prefers to concentrate on the tired old "tortured soul beneath the comic mask" theme. Thus it becomes hard to see why these two performers should be remembered at all. We have only the briefest of glimpses of their work (and, it must be said, the routines are not re-created with any of the original magic). Entire chunks of their career are overlooked - they would appear never to have made any films together other than "Bedazzled", Moore's musical career is completely diminished to a brief onstage bit but otherwise his piano playing seems only to be a way of pulling the birds, Cook's subsequent solo career is largely ignored. And yet the Derek and Clive phase seems to be given far too much prominence. Other personalities are merely hinted at in passing or else awkwardly pop up at odd moments ("Hi, I'm Blake Edwards").

Probably the film's best ingredient are the uncanny performances of the two leads - Rhys Ifans as Peter Cook and Aidan McArdle as Dudley Moore. They have all the speech patterns, mannerisms and body language down perfectly (although I felt Ifans lacked Cook's mischievous twinkle in his eye) but the disjointed script doesn't give them much chance to develop any real characterisations. Motivations such as why Moore put up with Cook for so long (assuming he was the monster the film portrays) are left unanswered. Other performances of well-known figures are basically caricatures with Jonathan Aris as Jonathan Miller particularly going over the top. Jodie Rimmer as Cook's wife Wendy manages to elicit a bit of sympathy in a largely two-dimensional role.

In the end, the film is vaguely interesting but hugely disappointing. The cliche that comic geniuses are tortured souls underneath may well be true. But it's the comedy that lasts, not the tantrums and squabbles that went on behind the scenes. For anyone interested in Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, I would suggest seeking out theit actual work rather than this sad shadow.

The film starts with a wry dig at itself for being modern and trying to look like a trendy modern film. Pete and Dud are watching this very film and commenting on the cinematic clichés, and then the story begins...

...After seeing the differences in class background we get to witness the comedy crucible of the 'Fringe' four which led to the meeting of the iconic duo. It is quickly established that Peter Cook is very much on a his own level, a higher plane of satirical intelligence which nobody else can reach - but one which Dudley Moore can appreciate and compliment with his own spontaneous ideas. Momentum builds and the group gain notoriety, eventually making superstars of Cook and Moore. The film continues to analyse itself and progresses the story in an almost episodic format.

It would have been easy to simply chart the story of two people who worked together, but capturing the spirit of them takes great writing skills and even better performances. The film concentrates on Peter Cook and Rys Ifans clearly loves the role. Do you remember when you first saw Jurassic Park and you couldn't believe the special effects which brought the dinosaurs to life? Well that's how I felt watching Ifans managing to shape-shift into Peter Cook. You can put someone in the same clothes and give them the same hair-do, but it takes a sprinkle of acting genius to adopt the same speech characteristics and mannerisms down to the smallest of detail - he even has Peter Cook's eyes!

Aidan McArdle is also great as Dudley Moore. He depicts well the feeling of second fiddle to Cook's overbearing presence, and also the slick Hollywood persona during his international 'sex thimble' years. But the truth is that 'Not Only But Always' centres on Peter Cook. The film is constructed around him and everyone appears either to be intimidated or awed by his presence. The relationship between him and Dudley Moore was infamously less then perfectly cordial, and the film focuses more on the antagonism of the relationship and a battle of ego which Cook could never lose.

This is made for TV and sometimes it's obvious; the airport scene was a blatant cheapo studio set - but as always the focus was on a brilliant Cook moment, the film could have been filmed against a children's doodle of an airport and Rhys Ifans as Cook would have distracted your attention away enough to make is plausible.

In a nutshell: Rhys Ifans *is* Peter Cook, he sold his soul and was possessed by the late comic genius - watching him on screen is like watching Cook himself. The persona of a much revered and often misunderstood man is presented in a way which is often gushing - but also fairly honest. Cook isn't the only character to be dissected on screen though, and a big part of his life was his working partnership with Dudley Moore. The essence of just a few aspects of that relationship are presented to us. It might not be an entirely true reflection, but I can't help but get the feeling that it comes pretty close.

Trying to cram a lifetime, and a very creative lifetime into a film is never going to entirely successful; cramming two in is going to be even less so. When the lives in question are Cook and Moore, Pete and Dud, the challenge is even greater and less likely to succeed. (Add Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller and failure stares back with a grin: "Go on. I dare you!")
Having written that, I enjoyed it; it was a reminded that these stage and film characters are real people (like the ones playing them) and marking the line where the reel one ends and the real other begins is not always easy or possible. Showing them as tortured souls may seem a cliche but no less true because of that, e.g. just because you're paranoid does not mean they are not out to get you.
There are some fascinating aspects to the film and some great insights into them and British society at certain levels, e.g. class distinctions between the grammar school and public schoolboys asserted regularly by Cook in order to bolster up his own feelings of worth and his status anxiety.
It may not please everyone and does not have all that they were on screen but it is well-written (many of the scripts are theirs of course), impressively film and acted convincingly.
"Goodbye, goodbye, I'm leaving you, goodbye! Yah tie tah tie ..."
Recommended