MINDHORN (15, 89mins)
Director: Sean Foley
Stars: Julian Barratt, Simon Farnaby, Essie Davis, Andrea Riseborough, Russell Tovey
You know, the one with Richard Thornycroft – aka Britain’s very own David Hasselhoff – as a smoothy-chops detective on the Isle Of Man with a robotic eye allowing him to literally “see the truth”. Think Bergerac meets The Six Million Dollar Man.
It was a teatime treat for schoolboys and bored housewives. OK, the show never actually existed but you’ll certainly believe it did after watching British comedy Mindhorn which, amusingly and very convincingly, creates a fictitious 1980s TV show in order to spoof both it and its star, the aforementioned Mr Thornycroft, in the present day.
Starring and co-written by one half of The Mighty Boosh Julian Barratt (Thornycroft) and Simon Farnaby, the picture strongly recalls the Alan Partridge movie Alpha Papa in its tale of redemption for a cheesy washed-up star after he becomes embroiled in a real-life crime scenario.
Indeed, Steve Coogan is in the cast and was an executive producer. Like Partridge, Thornycraft is a pompous saddo with no self-knowledge who blames everyone but himself for his failure to conquer Hollywood, not to mention current primetime TV.
Now reduced to promoting orthopaedic socks, he longs for one more shot at the big time but after blowing an audition with Kenneth Branagh (gamely playing himself) and being fired by his agent (Harriet Walter) all hope is lost.
The set-up for Thornycroft’s second chance is a good one: a fugitive killer on Mindhorn’s old stomping ground of the Isle Of Man phones the police and threatens to kill again unless he can speak in person to Detective Mindhorn, apparently unaware that Mindhorn wasn’t real.
So it is that Thornycroft returns to the island but he appears to be even more delusional than the killer, dressing up in his old costume and treating the whole thing as a giant PR opportunity.
It’s in these early scenes, while the scenario and characters are fresh, that the film is at it most fun. Barratt is a hoot as the vainglorious fool and a top drawer supporting cast lend the whole thing a surprisingly degree of realism, including an excellent Andrea Riseborough as testy police officer DC Baines.
Coogan is also good fun as Thornycroft’s former co-star, Peter Easterman, who continues to enjoy huge fame in his own spin-off TV series Windjammer.
Thornycroft is such a twit he does, eventually, begin to grate, while the plot can’t quite generate enough intrigue or tension to make the picture feel like much more than a one-joke movie, albeit a very funny one.
I would not be surprised to find Will Ferrell starring in a future US remake. Richard Thornycroft may yet achieve his Hollywood dream.
Daily Express :: Entertainment Feed
