Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise

This is a new favourite of mine. Timothy Spall's Tommy Ragg was brilliantly repulsive and hilarious to watch, while Pete swayed violently from being in awe of his mentor's drive for a sale, to wet-yourself fear of his driving skills. Two very convincing portrayals of two very bizarre characters - one incredibly foul and the other oddly likable. I watched it with my brother and we cacked ourselves. It's great.

This very different story about salesmen selling vacuum cleaners is dominated by the impressive talents of Timothy Spall as the character Tommy Rag. Spall is absolutely hilarious at the start of the movie as the loud, repulsive Tommy who shows rookie salesman Pete (Michael Begley) the ins and outs of the art of selling people things they don't need or want. Tommy's extreme behaviour (perhaps best displayed in his erratic, abusive driving) is a real treat to watch, almost as if the part was written for Timothy Spall's acting.

Unfortunately, the entertainment value of the film lulled a bit during the middle and end, as the film's characters' circumstances changed and a darker tone was taken. This in itself isn't a bad thing in a movie, but I just found the final two-thirds of the movie didn't match the very funny and entertaining first third.

3 stars/5

i´ve just seen this film once, last year, and i must say i found it very hilarious. timothy spall plays a big role. the way he teaches his new colleague and his lifestyle made me cry (laughing).

in fact it is a black humour film, very bright and funny on the surface but very sad at the core.

i recommend it with no reserves. it´s sense of humour may be thick, but it´s still worth the seeing.

This short film is pure brilliance.

While its style of jump cuts, close-ups and abrupt, energetic camera movement is jarring, this is a deliberate ploy on behalf of Boyle to unsettle the audience. We are drawn in to the hectic and aggressive lifestyle of the salesmen by the in-your-face action and dialogue. The combination of Boyle's exciting camera-work and Cartwright's intelligent, dark, witty script is, in my mind, perfect. There is an amazing amount of humour interspersed in the poverty, destitution and desperation of the backdrop.

But what really sets this drama apart is the amazing performance of Timothy Spall as the obsessive salesman. Despite playing an unadulterated b**tard, you can still see some humanity in his bullying and ruthless behaviour, and even feel pity at the person he has become. A lesser actor would surely have struggled to show the two sides to his character but Spall is utterly convincing and compelling in his intensity.

And if you like this, be sure to watch the other Boyle/Cartwright collaboration, 'Strumpet'.

After a string of awful movies - especially "Strumpet" - Boyle does a rather entertaining English-type indie thing which, though visually unappealing and dominated by hand-held camera and other annoying stuff, maintains a certain level of interest. Spall certainly helps affairs, but the David Thewlis look-alike also.

There is a very funny scene where Spall plays a "motivation song" in the car: it is a simple punk song with the lyrics being only "Sell! Sell F***ing Sell! (etc)..." which he then sings to.

It's a solid movie, but no need to get too excited. If you are a fan of "Trainspotting", don't expect that sort of level of entertainment here.