Sex Lives of the Potato Men

Dave and Ferris are mates who work in Birmingham delivering potatoes to trade. However their passion for their work doesn't compare to their desire for regular sex. Having just split up from his wife, Dave sees the future of being knee deep in the stuff if he can only work out who to get with. Ferris has a different problem as staying with his mother-in-law rent free means that he has to provide a service to her without making a fuss. Meanwhile their boss struggles with unrequited love for Ruth and colleague Tolly has strange tastes left over from his previous relationship.

I decided to try this film out of curiosity because of how universally reviled it was when it came out in the UK. It seems from the IMDb rating that the film has found some affection from somewhere but generally it is still very poor. The sense of humour required is low and the script seems rammed with unfunny jokes that seem to lack any taste or decency. Some people will find it hilarious perhaps but generally the best I could say about the "best" bits of the film is that they didn't sicken me. Sadly I cannot say that about the worst bits of the film and occasionally I did look away from the screen in disgust. I did this when the material was particularly coarse or the images were just tasteless. So although I didn't find it totally repulsive I didn't find anything of value here.

Writer director Humphries reacted with shock at the response the film got, saying he was trying to make a genuine account of the lives of people you don't see on film having sex however his problem is that he may have partially succeeded because the dregs of society aren't pretty. Of course he only uses these character to make loads of crap sex jokes and he hasn't exactly done anything with the characters that would allow him to hide behind some sort of bigger aim. The cast are mostly poor because the material is so bad for them. Vegas is good at what he does but the material doesn't work for his strengths and he is mostly unfunny – fans of his will get more from his recent PG Tips adverts with "monkey". Crook is no good at all and just stands round stiffly during all the rubbish he has to say. Gatiss and Coleman have unfunny material and can do nothing to improve it. Davis is wasted and the only appearance I found funny was Nick Holder in a weirdly amusing turn.

Overall then a film that is crude and unfunny to the point of being almost totally unenjoyable. Even the occasional moment that showed invention or wit (eg the Broadway style moment at the swingers party) is rendered awful by being so heavily crude. Containing nothing to really laugh about and plenty of low shots that still don't hit any target, this is a fairly pointless and laugh-free affair that will barely appeal to drunk teenage boys, far less anyone else.