The Harry Hill Movie

I went to see this film with my family of Harry Hill lovers, and I loved it! Harry Hill, Julie Walters, Matt Lucas, Simon Bird and Johnny Vegas were all fantastic. Saying this as a lifelong Harry Hill fan, I would recommend it if you've ever watched him. If you don't know or like his sense of humor then you will probably not like it. On IMDb, The Harry Hill Movie has too many bad reviews. This is because they do not like him. It should definitely be more popular!

There were loads of funny scenes, including a fight on top of Blackpool tower. The worst part was the end credits! He has a strange background in the film, because he has a twin brother brought up by Alsatians because his Nan couldn't look after them both because their parents went on holiday but ended up staying there.

Brilliant idea for a family afternoon if you need some comedy to liven up your day!

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

In this outlandish film version of himself, TV funny man Harry Hill is distraught to find his pet hamster Abu (voiced by Johnny Vegas) is ill, so he takes him to the vets, only to find himself getting chased to Blackpool with his nan (Julie Walters) and Abu, by henchmen of his brother Otto (Matt Lucas) who wants to make him pay for being abandoned with a family of dash hounds.

Although his silly, twisted humour is the kind of thing I tend to warm to, I've never really made much time for Harry Hill, although I was interested to see how he'd perform to a live audience when he toured earlier this year. And, on that same basis, I wondered what a film about him would be like. Lest we forget, he is actually a character as opposed to an actual celebrity, so with ideas running as dry as they are, why not make a 'Harry Hill Film?'

With a plot that's every bit as piecemeal and apathetic as I've made it sound, it falls on Hill's (or, rather, Michael Hall's) shoulders to inject the film with as much of his zany, off the wall antics that his very presence evokes as possible, but while there's maybe the odd little cackle here and there, generally it's an annoying, redundant mess that's really started to wear out it's welcome even after only an hour and a half.

With such as host of respected performers, including Walters, Jim Broadbent and Sheridan Smith, sending themselves up, you'd have thought there might at least be some out-takes at the end to take the edge off it all a little, but it's as if the film feels it's done it's stuff enough by the end and just rolls off with bland end credits. It's a naturally self indulgent piece that's very existence is enough to make the mind boggle, and leaves you in no doubt Hill's forte lies in TV and nowhere else. **

Harry Hill has always been a fairly divisive comedian, his unique absurdist style has usually worked pretty well on me, especially on TV burp and his old channel 4 show. Although he's funny in half-hour slots, he doesn't seem to be capable of sustaining a feature-length film. The storyline is rather weak, involving Abu the hamster being taken on holiday to Blackpool (although they ended up in Blackpole at first) for his supposedly final week alive, but Harry's brother sends his henchmen to capture him. The acting is okay but not particularly good. The songs are fine too though not particularly funny. Harry often breaks the fourth wall to let the audience know about safety regulations etc, this was funny the first time but got irritating as he did it every 5 minutes seemingly.

It's certainly unique and while not horrible it wasn't really a bundle of fun either.

Went with wife and two kids. We left after 50 minutes having sat through the worst cinema experience ever.

Had the film been branded as a new venture or a change in Harrys' professional direction we could accept why it may not have been to our liking. However the film is called "The Harry Hill Movie" and we naturally expected a feast of his humour and the entertainment enjoyed from watching his performances on television.

A star studied cast only raised our expectations and veiled the dreadful reviews that we had chosen not to embrace. I am at a complete loss as to why such highly acclaimed actors would want to be associated with a potentially career damaging script.

Take a walk in the park, rake some leaves or consider a cold shower but do not go and spend money going to see this.

Harry and his team need to make an apology to those fans who have wasted hard earned money going to see this.

I was quite looking forward to this film and I was very surprised to see how low it is rated on IMDb. On one hand I want to say that Hill's comedy can be quite niche so maybe people just didn't like him when he is on form, but then on the other, it is hard to call him an acquired taste when his brand of absurdity held court on Saturday night television for so many years. Anyway, the film has a typically silly plot as Harry believes his hamster has mere days to live and decides to give him his heart's desire – a trip to Blackpool (Harry cannot speak hamster, Abu actually wanted to meet Rihanna). Anyway, while Harry, Abu and his Nan sets off on their trip, they are pursued by two henchmen trying to kidnap Abu for the sinister motives of Otto, Harry's long lost brother (yes, it's an evil twin thing).

I should really be target audience for this film – or at least I should have many more positive words for it than I have seen from others here. In some ways I do because I did like some of the absurd stuff and some of the set pieces that made me chuckle, but unfortunately they are hard to remember in the sea of those that did not. It is a problem with Hill's style of comedy, you really need to be in the mood for it and from his side it needs to be bang on the money or else it just seems silly and stupid rather than wonderfully absurd and imaginative. Rewatching his old Channel 4 show recently, he did manage to consistently hit the right side of that line but with this film too much of it is silly. Some of it might have worked were it not just so apropos of nothing – so bits that just get thrown in for almost no reason. Some of it is badly misjudged and "rapping nan" in particular is something that just should have been thrown out in the writers' room.

The musical numbers have some energy but strangely no laughs at all; the carwash song with the woman from the Noisettes is fun but then other songs just seem to come from nowhere and go nowhere. I enjoy the Les Mis one but the more the film just piles on with references later on, the less it seems to work. Children will still like it and if you are a total fan of Hill's humor no matter whether it is good or not so good, then you may enjoy this, but otherwise it must be said that there is really too much silliness for the fewer actually good bits to overcome.