The Harry Hill Movie

It would be best to let the story speak for this film.

An adult man who lives with his grandmother as well as a...teddy bear who is gravely ill and only has a week to live, allegedly and thus his housemates try to offer him a pleasant last week by taking him on a holiday.

If you are a parent of children in their pre teens, then take them and go see it. Otherwise, stay well away from the big screen.

On this note, I would have to acknowledge as remarkable the fact that the producers managed to cast the likes of Julie Walters and Jim Boradbent.

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.

The Harry Hill Movie is a surreal, slapstick-laden comedy that tries to bottle the chaotic charm of its star, but ends up as more of a headache than a hoot. Harry Hill's trademark absurdism, which works well in short bursts on TV, feels stretched and disjointed over the course of 88 minutes. The plot (what little there is) centers on Hill's fictionalized quest to save his pet hamster, Abu, from a terminal illness while fending off his villainous twin brother (Matt Lucas).

The film aims to be a madcap road trip filled with musical numbers, celebrity cameos (Julie Walters as Grandma is a highlight), and nonsense logic. But the relentless randomness often feels more tiresome than whimsical. Gags arrive rapid-fire, yet few land, and the ones that do are smothered by the noise. There's a fine line between quirky and irritating, and this film crosses it often.

To its credit, the movie never takes itself seriously, and its childlike tone might amuse younger audiences or hardcore fans of Hill's offbeat humor. There's a sense of earnest silliness that's hard to completely hate. But for most viewers, the film lacks structure, emotional payoff, or real comedic bite.

Overall, The Harry Hill Movie is less a feature film and more a sketch show stitched into a barely coherent narrative. There's energy here, and moments of inspired lunacy, but not nearly enough to recommend it to anyone outside Hill's niche fanbase in this overall missed opportunity of a film.