Year: 2009
Directors: Mark Devenport
Writers: Mark Devenport & Tony Claassen
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: projectcyclops
Rating: 1 out of 10
Mark Davenport's first feature film comedy 'Big Things', apparently took three years to make and involved many regional funding bodies, several separate periods of production and generally a lot of hard graft on the part if it's cast and crew. The film is about a young cycle courier called Richard. He decides one day that he'd like to make a film about a talented runner who dies, has a statue of him erected by his admirers, only for his biggest rival to be crushed to death underneath it while attempting to drill it to pieces. He dubs his less-than-bright best friend Ray producer, hires a cast of amateurs and gets to work. A lot has been made of the parallels between the real production and the one portrayed on screen,...
Directors: Mark Devenport
Writers: Mark Devenport & Tony Claassen
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: projectcyclops
Rating: 1 out of 10
Mark Davenport's first feature film comedy 'Big Things', apparently took three years to make and involved many regional funding bodies, several separate periods of production and generally a lot of hard graft on the part if it's cast and crew. The film is about a young cycle courier called Richard. He decides one day that he'd like to make a film about a talented runner who dies, has a statue of him erected by his admirers, only for his biggest rival to be crushed to death underneath it while attempting to drill it to pieces. He dubs his less-than-bright best friend Ray producer, hires a cast of amateurs and gets to work. A lot has been made of the parallels between the real production and the one portrayed on screen,...
- 6/19/2009
- QuietEarth.us
One for the Road
Edinburgh International Film Festival
EDINBURGH, Scotland -- Writer-director Chris Cooke and a small but expert cast turn an essentially downbeat story of three losers and the rich man they hope to fleece into a richly humorous and surreal fable. Smartly marketed to an audience that likes its comedy stiletto sharp, martini dry and a little bloody, "One for the Road" could be in for a very profitable ride.
Jimmy, Paul and Mark meet millionaire Richard Stevens at a rehabilitation course after they've each been convicted of driving while intoxicated. Jimmy (Greg Chisholm) is the youngest -- a callow, cheap-suited lad whose father has died leaving a failed business and an empty warehouse. Paul (Rupert Procter) is a flop-sweat salesman with a disaffected wife, two kids and an expensive mortgage. Mark (Mark Devenport) is an affable dopehead. Stevens (Hywel Bennett) is a retired businessman who lives a lonely life in a grand mansion and boasts of the thoroughbred horse he owns.
They make an incongruous bunch at the court-enforced meetings, where a supercilious assessor named Ian (Jonny Phillips) plays touchy-feely games and conducts role-play sessions so that he can write reports to the magistrate that will decide when they get their licenses back.
At the first lunch break, they all go down to the local pub. Cooke cleverly uses the twin devices of the role-play sessions and what become marathon drinking sessions to explore the characters of the four men. Seldom has British pub drinking been so convincingly and unapologetically conveyed. It's both tragic and hilarious.
Jimmy lies to himself and his mother about what he's doing, telling her he's in a business course. "It's the networking opportunity of a lifetime," he says hollowly. He earnestly romances a young woman working behind the bar in the local pub, but when push comes to shove he says he'd better get back to the lads.
Paul is thrown out of his house by his fed-up wife. The option she suggests and he accepts is to live in a tent in their back yard. Mark rides about as a forlorn passenger in his mate's taxi rather than stay home alone. The rich man advertises overseas for a bride, hoping she understands English.
If these episodes sound banal and sad, their depiction and accompanying dialogue are so sardonic and penetrating that the screening here at Edinburgh had the audience in stitches. This is comedy writing and performing at a very high level. The acting is uniformly acute, with all the principals able to portray deep stupidity in a believable and sympathetic manner. Procter, especially, reveals an outstanding ability to deliver outrageously funny lines with a perfectly straight face.
As the plot moves along and the plan of the three losers to sell the boy's inherited warehouse to the millionaire takes shape, it becomes inevitable that they are all heading for a car wreck in some shape or form. But when it comes, it is from so far out of left field that even though it's monstrous, it is unutterably funny.
"One for the Road" is entirely politically incorrect in its affection for its group of drunks, but it's totally clear-eyed in respect to the self-delusion their indulgence breeds. Cooke doesn't preach, but he does make you laugh.
ONE FOR THE ROAD
U.K. Film Council and FilmFour present a One for the Road Films production in association with Strange Dog and Intermedia Film & Video (Nottingham) Ltd.
Credits: Screenwriter-director: Chris Cooke
Producer: Kate Ogborn
Executive producers: Peter Carlton, Paul Trijbits, Robin Gutch
Co-producers: Helen Solomon, Alexander O'Neal
Director of photography: N.G. Smith
Production designer: Jason Carlin
Music: Steve Blackman
Costume designer: Claire Finlay
Editor: Nick Fenton
Cast:
Paul: Rupert Procter
Jimmy: Greg Chisholm
Mark: Mark Devenport
Richard Stevens: Hywel Bennett
Liz: Julie Legrand
Eve: Micaiah Dring
Ian: Jonny Phillips
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating...
EDINBURGH, Scotland -- Writer-director Chris Cooke and a small but expert cast turn an essentially downbeat story of three losers and the rich man they hope to fleece into a richly humorous and surreal fable. Smartly marketed to an audience that likes its comedy stiletto sharp, martini dry and a little bloody, "One for the Road" could be in for a very profitable ride.
Jimmy, Paul and Mark meet millionaire Richard Stevens at a rehabilitation course after they've each been convicted of driving while intoxicated. Jimmy (Greg Chisholm) is the youngest -- a callow, cheap-suited lad whose father has died leaving a failed business and an empty warehouse. Paul (Rupert Procter) is a flop-sweat salesman with a disaffected wife, two kids and an expensive mortgage. Mark (Mark Devenport) is an affable dopehead. Stevens (Hywel Bennett) is a retired businessman who lives a lonely life in a grand mansion and boasts of the thoroughbred horse he owns.
They make an incongruous bunch at the court-enforced meetings, where a supercilious assessor named Ian (Jonny Phillips) plays touchy-feely games and conducts role-play sessions so that he can write reports to the magistrate that will decide when they get their licenses back.
At the first lunch break, they all go down to the local pub. Cooke cleverly uses the twin devices of the role-play sessions and what become marathon drinking sessions to explore the characters of the four men. Seldom has British pub drinking been so convincingly and unapologetically conveyed. It's both tragic and hilarious.
Jimmy lies to himself and his mother about what he's doing, telling her he's in a business course. "It's the networking opportunity of a lifetime," he says hollowly. He earnestly romances a young woman working behind the bar in the local pub, but when push comes to shove he says he'd better get back to the lads.
Paul is thrown out of his house by his fed-up wife. The option she suggests and he accepts is to live in a tent in their back yard. Mark rides about as a forlorn passenger in his mate's taxi rather than stay home alone. The rich man advertises overseas for a bride, hoping she understands English.
If these episodes sound banal and sad, their depiction and accompanying dialogue are so sardonic and penetrating that the screening here at Edinburgh had the audience in stitches. This is comedy writing and performing at a very high level. The acting is uniformly acute, with all the principals able to portray deep stupidity in a believable and sympathetic manner. Procter, especially, reveals an outstanding ability to deliver outrageously funny lines with a perfectly straight face.
As the plot moves along and the plan of the three losers to sell the boy's inherited warehouse to the millionaire takes shape, it becomes inevitable that they are all heading for a car wreck in some shape or form. But when it comes, it is from so far out of left field that even though it's monstrous, it is unutterably funny.
"One for the Road" is entirely politically incorrect in its affection for its group of drunks, but it's totally clear-eyed in respect to the self-delusion their indulgence breeds. Cooke doesn't preach, but he does make you laugh.
ONE FOR THE ROAD
U.K. Film Council and FilmFour present a One for the Road Films production in association with Strange Dog and Intermedia Film & Video (Nottingham) Ltd.
Credits: Screenwriter-director: Chris Cooke
Producer: Kate Ogborn
Executive producers: Peter Carlton, Paul Trijbits, Robin Gutch
Co-producers: Helen Solomon, Alexander O'Neal
Director of photography: N.G. Smith
Production designer: Jason Carlin
Music: Steve Blackman
Costume designer: Claire Finlay
Editor: Nick Fenton
Cast:
Paul: Rupert Procter
Jimmy: Greg Chisholm
Mark: Mark Devenport
Richard Stevens: Hywel Bennett
Liz: Julie Legrand
Eve: Micaiah Dring
Ian: Jonny Phillips
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/9/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
One for the Road
Edinburgh International Film Festival
EDINBURGH, Scotland -- Writer-director Chris Cooke and a small but expert cast turn an essentially downbeat story of three losers and the rich man they hope to fleece into a richly humorous and surreal fable. Smartly marketed to an audience that likes its comedy stiletto sharp, martini dry and a little bloody, "One for the Road" could be in for a very profitable ride.
Jimmy, Paul and Mark meet millionaire Richard Stevens at a rehabilitation course after they've each been convicted of driving while intoxicated. Jimmy (Greg Chisholm) is the youngest -- a callow, cheap-suited lad whose father has died leaving a failed business and an empty warehouse. Paul (Rupert Procter) is a flop-sweat salesman with a disaffected wife, two kids and an expensive mortgage. Mark (Mark Devenport) is an affable dopehead. Stevens (Hywel Bennett) is a retired businessman who lives a lonely life in a grand mansion and boasts of the thoroughbred horse he owns.
They make an incongruous bunch at the court-enforced meetings, where a supercilious assessor named Ian (Jonny Phillips) plays touchy-feely games and conducts role-play sessions so that he can write reports to the magistrate that will decide when they get their licenses back.
At the first lunch break, they all go down to the local pub. Cooke cleverly uses the twin devices of the role-play sessions and what become marathon drinking sessions to explore the characters of the four men. Seldom has British pub drinking been so convincingly and unapologetically conveyed. It's both tragic and hilarious.
Jimmy lies to himself and his mother about what he's doing, telling her he's in a business course. "It's the networking opportunity of a lifetime," he says hollowly. He earnestly romances a young woman working behind the bar in the local pub, but when push comes to shove he says he'd better get back to the lads.
Paul is thrown out of his house by his fed-up wife. The option she suggests and he accepts is to live in a tent in their back yard. Mark rides about as a forlorn passenger in his mate's taxi rather than stay home alone. The rich man advertises overseas for a bride, hoping she understands English.
If these episodes sound banal and sad, their depiction and accompanying dialogue are so sardonic and penetrating that the screening here at Edinburgh had the audience in stitches. This is comedy writing and performing at a very high level. The acting is uniformly acute, with all the principals able to portray deep stupidity in a believable and sympathetic manner. Procter, especially, reveals an outstanding ability to deliver outrageously funny lines with a perfectly straight face.
As the plot moves along and the plan of the three losers to sell the boy's inherited warehouse to the millionaire takes shape, it becomes inevitable that they are all heading for a car wreck in some shape or form. But when it comes, it is from so far out of left field that even though it's monstrous, it is unutterably funny.
"One for the Road" is entirely politically incorrect in its affection for its group of drunks, but it's totally clear-eyed in respect to the self-delusion their indulgence breeds. Cooke doesn't preach, but he does make you laugh.
ONE FOR THE ROAD
U.K. Film Council and FilmFour present a One for the Road Films production in association with Strange Dog and Intermedia Film & Video (Nottingham) Ltd.
Credits: Screenwriter-director: Chris Cooke
Producer: Kate Ogborn
Executive producers: Peter Carlton, Paul Trijbits, Robin Gutch
Co-producers: Helen Solomon, Alexander O'Neal
Director of photography: N.G. Smith
Production designer: Jason Carlin
Music: Steve Blackman
Costume designer: Claire Finlay
Editor: Nick Fenton
Cast:
Paul: Rupert Procter
Jimmy: Greg Chisholm
Mark: Mark Devenport
Richard Stevens: Hywel Bennett
Liz: Julie Legrand
Eve: Micaiah Dring
Ian: Jonny Phillips
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating...
EDINBURGH, Scotland -- Writer-director Chris Cooke and a small but expert cast turn an essentially downbeat story of three losers and the rich man they hope to fleece into a richly humorous and surreal fable. Smartly marketed to an audience that likes its comedy stiletto sharp, martini dry and a little bloody, "One for the Road" could be in for a very profitable ride.
Jimmy, Paul and Mark meet millionaire Richard Stevens at a rehabilitation course after they've each been convicted of driving while intoxicated. Jimmy (Greg Chisholm) is the youngest -- a callow, cheap-suited lad whose father has died leaving a failed business and an empty warehouse. Paul (Rupert Procter) is a flop-sweat salesman with a disaffected wife, two kids and an expensive mortgage. Mark (Mark Devenport) is an affable dopehead. Stevens (Hywel Bennett) is a retired businessman who lives a lonely life in a grand mansion and boasts of the thoroughbred horse he owns.
They make an incongruous bunch at the court-enforced meetings, where a supercilious assessor named Ian (Jonny Phillips) plays touchy-feely games and conducts role-play sessions so that he can write reports to the magistrate that will decide when they get their licenses back.
At the first lunch break, they all go down to the local pub. Cooke cleverly uses the twin devices of the role-play sessions and what become marathon drinking sessions to explore the characters of the four men. Seldom has British pub drinking been so convincingly and unapologetically conveyed. It's both tragic and hilarious.
Jimmy lies to himself and his mother about what he's doing, telling her he's in a business course. "It's the networking opportunity of a lifetime," he says hollowly. He earnestly romances a young woman working behind the bar in the local pub, but when push comes to shove he says he'd better get back to the lads.
Paul is thrown out of his house by his fed-up wife. The option she suggests and he accepts is to live in a tent in their back yard. Mark rides about as a forlorn passenger in his mate's taxi rather than stay home alone. The rich man advertises overseas for a bride, hoping she understands English.
If these episodes sound banal and sad, their depiction and accompanying dialogue are so sardonic and penetrating that the screening here at Edinburgh had the audience in stitches. This is comedy writing and performing at a very high level. The acting is uniformly acute, with all the principals able to portray deep stupidity in a believable and sympathetic manner. Procter, especially, reveals an outstanding ability to deliver outrageously funny lines with a perfectly straight face.
As the plot moves along and the plan of the three losers to sell the boy's inherited warehouse to the millionaire takes shape, it becomes inevitable that they are all heading for a car wreck in some shape or form. But when it comes, it is from so far out of left field that even though it's monstrous, it is unutterably funny.
"One for the Road" is entirely politically incorrect in its affection for its group of drunks, but it's totally clear-eyed in respect to the self-delusion their indulgence breeds. Cooke doesn't preach, but he does make you laugh.
ONE FOR THE ROAD
U.K. Film Council and FilmFour present a One for the Road Films production in association with Strange Dog and Intermedia Film & Video (Nottingham) Ltd.
Credits: Screenwriter-director: Chris Cooke
Producer: Kate Ogborn
Executive producers: Peter Carlton, Paul Trijbits, Robin Gutch
Co-producers: Helen Solomon, Alexander O'Neal
Director of photography: N.G. Smith
Production designer: Jason Carlin
Music: Steve Blackman
Costume designer: Claire Finlay
Editor: Nick Fenton
Cast:
Paul: Rupert Procter
Jimmy: Greg Chisholm
Mark: Mark Devenport
Richard Stevens: Hywel Bennett
Liz: Julie Legrand
Eve: Micaiah Dring
Ian: Jonny Phillips
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 8/26/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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