My Wrongs 8245-8249 and 117

I suppose some of the other reviewers here may think I am a really sick person, but I thought this was hilarious! Prior to this viewing, I had never heard of Chris Morris, probably because I live on the other side of the Pond, but I will seek out more.

I won't recap the content because others have already done so on this forum. My reactions to this material are quite different from others' reactions, however, and I encourage the reader to take a chance and see what their own reactions will be.

As a clinical social worker who has worked extensively with the chronic mentally ill, I was not offended by the portrayal of an obviously deranged person. Persons experiencing psychotic episodes involving command hallucinations, whether aural or visual, are human, and the content and logic of their experience, while bizarre, is recognizably human. You may recall something you once believed and later found to be false or inaccurate in some way. To the extent that this belief influenced your decisions at that time, you were sharing the same mechanism that causes a psychotic person to believe a dog is speaking to them or the television is blinking in some mysterious way that may or may not be revealing something important. The difference is in degree and, possibly, in the lack or over-abundance of certain brain chemicals.

I give this a 9/10.

I've never really been a big fan of 'shorts' (the films, not the clothes) so it was always going to take an artist whom I really respect to convince me to actually buy one, and - as you've probably guessed - Chris Morris is such an artist. Possibly the most interesting comic around, if you take into account his media-shy persona and the controversy that surrounded the Brass Eye special a while back, this film marks his debut on this medium, and is a corker.

Revolving around a depressed man who (probably, but nothing is certain here) has gone insane due to self-loathing, and his relationship with the dog who lives in the house that he is looking after, the film inspires equal parts of horror, dismay, and hilarity. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this, and if I have, I've never found it this entertaining. Really highly recommended for anybody who is interested in art which pushes at the boundries of medium, form, and genre.

... But then I do have a highly developed sense of humour . Did I tell you about the time when I was sitting at the breakfast table of the 2002 Greenpeace national skillshare conferance and the conversation got around to gay policemen ? Maybe some other time

It probably won`t come as much of a surprise that the people who didn`t like my sense of humour on that morning will detest the humour of Chris Morris . Okay I think he`s over rated myself and he often shoots himself in the foot by going out to shock rather than going out to make people laugh but with MY WRONGS 8245-8249 AND 117 Morris has got the balance right . If you`re some bleeding heart do-gooder you will find this grotesque , shocking and a blight upon the human race . If you`re an intelligent human being you might just laugh out loud at the scene on the bus , the scene at the park and the scene in the church . I know I did and I also know it`s not supposed to be a case study of mental illness so please watch it in the spirit as it was intended , and I hope to see more from Morris in the future

This is the debut film from satirist, surrealist comedian and cult phenomenon Chris Morris, whose fans have levelled criticism at the project as it is a reinterpretation of a story already featured in his dark, late-night sketch show 'Blue Jam'.

As a Morris fan myself, I was somewhat sceptical about the need for a retelling of this tale - a blackly comic piece about a man who is so depressed that he believes his dog is talking to him, and providing some frankly terrible advice.

So I'm happy to report that the film is indeed successful, at least for the most part, and this is largely due to Morris's skill as a filmmaker. The tone is stylish and experimental, and manages to breath new life into the story - Morris has clearly built upon what he started in his last TV series, 'Jam'. And as well as directing the film, Morris has also written the electro-ambient soundtrack, which interplays cleverly with the camerawork to create some neat moments.

However, some of the gags don't translate to the screen particularly well - and this is largely because cinema isn't the best medium to convey the protagonist's reasoning behind his erratic behaviour - described so effectively in the radio version. Therefore, if you plan to watch this film, I'd highly recommend listening to the original Blue Jam monologue on which it is based (included on the DVD now available), which provides some of the detail and il(logic) behind the character's actions.

Maybe next time then, a new story tailor-made for the screen would be more satisfying, but this is still an accomplished debut.

9/10

A depressed and paranoid man is looking after his girlfriend's house and dog for a weekend. The dog assures the man that he is the man's lawyer and will be representing him in court next week. They go out for a walk where the dog leads him into a fight with duck's in the park and deceives him at a christening.

I'm not a big fan of Chris Morris, but I am always interested enough in his material to give it ago. Sometimes his unique visions of life are funny or just weird enough to be engrossing. Other times they are simply desperate attempts to offend – like a cry for attention or something. Here the sketch (for that is what it is) is an extended version of one taken from Blue Jam. I questioned the value of this film while I was watching it as I wondered why Morris hadn't just remade this as another sketch rather than going for a whole film.

Regardless of this it worked quite well if you like Morris' typically dark view on dark subjects. It isn't very funny, so don't get your hopes up too much in that regard, but it is interestingly compelling. His actual point is lost on me but the telling is interesting. Morris himself provides the voice of the man's lawyer/dog.

Overall this is an interesting way to pass 15 minutes although don't assume it is a laugh riot, for it isn't. Instead it is a comic look at schizophrenia and depression which works simply because you have to keep watching to see where it is going. In terms of a second viewing, I doubt I'd bother.