Sex Lives of the Potato Men

Sex Lives of the Potato Men is about the sex lives of several men involved in delivering potatoes. So there are no surprises there. It is, in fact, pretty much what you might expect from the title: that is, it's a quirky comedy involving sex and potato men. At times the film works. It's an edgy, sometimes uncomfortable comedy about the lives of some rather unimportant and rather average men who are having problems of various sorts with women. Where the film clearly does not work, and why it failed at the box office, is that the quirky, uncomfortable parts are perhaps just a shade too quirky and uncomfortable. Instead of laughing during the scene of a man suspended from a basement ceiling masturbating over another man while he makes love to his wife, I think most of us just kind of groan awkwardly and wonder what Andy Humphries was thinking. Well, perhaps we are shown what he was thinking all too clearly.

Oh my, such pretension, such pontificating, such bollox forwarded by other IMDb users. This film "does exactly what it says on the tin" (sorry American readers). It's called SEX LIFE OF THE POTATO MEN - did you expect English PATIENT perchance ??

Admittedly - I, like another member thought it would be akin to "Bottom" (sorry American readers) but after 5 minutes had that notion blown out of the water.My word, it certainly was crude - but who cares - give me crude anytime ahead of American graphic slaughter.

I thought is beautifully disgusting, wonderfully crass, amazingly childish and above all exactly what I expected !!

Now how's that for pretension

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.

Such was the opprobrium heaped on Sex Lives when first released, you'd think director (and one-time Mastermind winner) Andy Humphries had committed atrocities on a par with Harold Shipman's, or the Mai Lai massacre. Much column inches were generated devoted to this supposed 'worst film ever made', and there were questions raised in Parliament. It's quite mystifying actually – as even those hand-wringing broadsheets were forced to admit after cornering happy punters emerging from the theaters. Not many of them, granted; certainly, there were only two other audience members in attendance when this reviewer caught a screening – one of whom was covertly pleasuring himself throughout. (It seemed fitting, somehow.) The plot's simplicity itself: Vegas and Crook, the titular potato deliverers, attempt to get their end away with all and sundry. In truth, it's less sordid than surreal, featuring bonkers flights of fancy bordering on genius: Vegas's musing that all insects produce sugar-based substances, being a particular highlight. It's also slightly funny (ish). Essentially, an honest depiction of working class sex, and the inherent ridiculousness of the sex act itself.

All I expect from a comedy is that it's funny and that's what this film is. Funny.

OK, so ideally in addition there would have been some emotional resonance to counter and complement the comedy and the character arcs wouldn't just, sort of, limp to a hasty conclusion but I laughed throughout and so maybe that's being too picky.

People have compared this to the Carry On films and I hope Humphries is suitably horrified rather than flattered. The Carry On films severely lacked the depth, honesty and courage that Sex Lives of the Potato Men displays. I'd go as far to say Sex Lives of the Potato Men is a spot-on satire on recreational sex and the mores of the new millennium; where the seeking of new experiences is deemed more important than true intimacy and relationships.

It is bizarre that by simply holding a mirror up and reflecting our society as it exists, Humphries has been villified in the media.

I would strongly advise not to let middle-class metropolitan reviewers or the sexphobic moral minority or jealous bitter would-be film-makers put you off, see it for yourself and make your own mind up.