Faintheart

Knowing nothing about Faintheart before watching it I was fooled by the opening sequence where two armies were preparing for battle so imagine my surprise when a cell rang and the scene was revealed to be a re- enactment in modern world. After that I was excited to see what the movie has to offer because it had never occurred to me before that there are no comedies about Live Action Role Playing and anyone who is familiar with that hobby knows that it is a goldmine of hilarity.

Faintheart indeed takes great advantage of its unique setting and shows us how imaginative people have to be to be able to enjoy dressing themselves up as knights or mages and swinging a sword made of plastic. However, at about 70% into the movie they seem to have run out of funny scenarios and choose to close the show by introducing clichés that we have seen so many times before.

The main male cast consists of Ewen Bremner and Steve Ryland who i hadn't heard of before but after looking them up on IMDb I was surprised at how many movies I had seen without noticing them. The female lead is Jessica Hynes from the amazing series "Spaced" looking better than ever. It was interesting to see her act in a role that requires a somewhat more serious approach but she pulls it off quite well.

Overall Faintheart is an enjoyable piece of British cinema and if I had kids I would make sure they saw this movie.

This is the second British comedy I've seen recently that I'd never heard of until a friend recommended it to me (the other one is "Blow Dry"). I'm completely perplexed. The filmmakers went to all this trouble to get a brilliant script and cast with matching performances and then what? - they forgot to tell the UK audience that it exist?! Also, it was never marketed outside the UK (although it seems to have had a Swedish premiere according to IMDb Pro), no doubt losing millions in the process!

It's really, really disheartening to all filmmakers everywhere to think that you can get everything right and still get it so wrong. If anyone knows the inside story on what happened (and to "Blow Dry" for that matter) then please let me know.

In the meantime, this goes straight into my private hoard of great comedies that I keep locked in my study, away from prying eyes, for those rainy days! :-)

I saw this last night, and what's special about it is that it was filmed in my home town of Ludlow (the shots of the Castle and the Church are landmarks in the town like the Empire State Building is in New York and the Eiffel Tower is in Paris), and also in Hereford just half an hour away, so I was dead eager to see it. Especially since I missed seeing it filmed because I was on a stunt course in Cardiff during that week in summer. After watching this movie, I was glad that I don't live in LA or New York (used to seeing a film in the cinema shot just down the road), because I found it fascinating to see a film with shots of the park, the castle, and the main street that I grew up with.

Luckily, I was not disappointed. There is not a single weak link in the cast. There are moments that make you laugh out loud so often (such as the moment when Ewen Bremner's character realises that he's landed a date with a fellow trekkie), and when you want to cry (for example, when Eddie Marsan's character realises that his hobby of battle re-enactment is the reason his relationship with his family has gone awry).

I would love to go on, but I fear it'd spoil the story. If the climax didn't warm you, you have a heart of concrete. A real feel-good film that will brighten your day without a doubt.

Those looking for a whimsical British comedy will not find it here. Instead, "Faintheart" takes the kitchen-sink approach to a tale about a middle-aged man who can't get over his obsession with childish things. These include his bedraggled early 1970s appearance, his ancient decal-covered VW bus and his passion for playing a Viking in a series of battle reenactments with his similarly socially retarded buddies. Along the way, he loses his wife and child over his childish behavior. The plot has him slowly deciding to grow up and win back his love and young son, who is greatly embarrassed by his Peter Pan-like dad. Nothing all that special here, but worth a look. The ending is clumsily handled, but in truth it fits with this neo-realist fantasy. Oddly enough, the son is the spitting image of a young Jodie Foster. He's also the best actor in what was his very first movie.

I saw the premiere of this film last night at the Edinburgh Film Festival. It was absolutely brilliant! If you like British films where the underdog makes you go "aww..." then see this film, you won't be disappointed. The young lad who plays the son of the hero of the piece is a brilliant young actor, the fact that I can't recall his name is no reflection on how good he was (I'm just really bad at remembering names). Ewen Bremner was excellent, as usual...as was Jessica Hynes. The film is also memorable for a selection of the crappiest looking cars you'll have seen in a while. The hero's C-reg Volvo estate car is just fantastic. And as for the soundtrack...I'd forgotten how much I used to like Saxon. Support the British film industry, when they produce wee gems like this it would be rude not to.