Gangsta Granny

Adapting David Walliams books over Christmas has become a bit of a BBC tradition in recent years, and this was the second attempt.

While not as good as 'Mr Stink' this is a warm hearted and funny piece of entertainment for all the family, that features some big name stars embracing the fun.

It doesn't lag in terms of pace and has the necessary sadness that underpin the humour that 'The Boy in the Dress' which followed a year later lacked.

The star stealing turn for me was from Miranda Hart, who manages to earn a laugh from practically all of her lines.

Well done to all involved.

This film comes from the mind of comedian turned writer David Walliams. It's one of his many children's books to be turned into a TV movie, which is appropriately rated U for all audiences. This feature is directed by Matt Lipsey, it has a runtime of about an hour, and like Walliams's other features, there is a decent cast assembled to act out the parts.

11-year-old Ben is bored. Every weekend his parents Linda and Mike spend time with their hobby of ballroom dancing. They are either watching it on TV, or they are doing it as a dancing couple. Meanwhile Ben is constantly being shipped off to his grandmother's house who he finds boring. One day Ben discovers that his grandmother is not as boring as he thought, in fact she is a world-renowned jewel thief called that Black Cat. She stopped short of her greatest robbery on account of Ben's father being born and since then she has lived out a quiet life. With Ben's encouragement she is talked back into the business of robbery and together they go after the greatest prize of all, the crown jewels.

Julia McKenzie, once "Shirley Valentine" (1989) plays granny in this film, with Reece Buttery playing young Ben. His parents are played by David Walliams and Miranda Hart, with Rob Brydon, Claudia Winkleman, Harish Patel, Robbie Williams, and Joanna Lumley all appearing too.

This TV film is one of many of Walliams's kids' books which seems to be syndicated to appear every Christmas and New Year in the UK. Despite being produced in the last century, it already feels old because it is written in a way that dates it to a particular era of linguistics. In the film Ben suggests his grandma should be "more gangsta", and the use of language here dates to between 2005-2015 (at a stretch), beyond which, this kind of linguistic became 'lame'.

On the surface this is a simple enough film which tries to enforce loving the entire family, but it is also not without it is flaws too. It encourages stealing and lying, it suggests that being condescending is ok, and when Ben ditches his dance partner it encourages viewers to not bother doing something if they do not want to - and furthermore, lie about it too and just do not justify or apologise for it. I recently watched another of David Walliams's books to films recently - "Mr Stink" (2012). This film fell into the same trap as that did - it was written how an adult perceived kids to be, with what he thought they would want. Rather than what they wanted and how they were. It tries too hard and stumbles. Yes, it's a kid's movie, but it's predictable and not that entertaining - and I'm not judging this just by my own viewing pleasures too. I have sat down my young cousins in front of this and none of them were engrossed or entertained. I cannot rate or recommend this film that highly. Do yourself a favour and look out for a Roald Dahl or Dr Seuss feature instead.

This David Walliams book adapted for TV showcases Julia McKenzie as a cabbage obsessed grandmother who also masquerades as an international jewel thief.

Her grandson Ben despairs of being sent to his dull grandmother's house every Friday night by his parents (played David Walliams and Miranda Hart) while they go ballroom dancing.

However Ben soon realises that his grandmother has hidden talents beyond cabbage soup and soon hatches a plan to steal the Crown Jewels whilst evading a nosey neighbour played by Rob Brydon.

It is a film that will be a hit with the kids although adults would be nonplussed until Joanna Lumley appears as the Queen and starts dancing.

It's a touching tale about bonding with the elderly but I really expected something more involving. Walliams and Hart provide able support but not enough laughs with their strictly dancing carry on.

Look out for Robbie Williams as Latino dancer Flavio.

Suffice it to say that I had never heard about this 2013 British comedy titled "Gangsta Granny", when I happened to stumble upon it by random chance here in 2024. And with its rather odd title, I have to say that the movie did catch my attention right away. And with it being a movie I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to sit down and watch it.

I was surprised to see that David Walliams was starring in the movie, and had also been writing the script. But that definitely just helped to peak the interest in sitting down to watch the movie.

The storyline in the movie was adequate, though I have to admit that I was expecting a tad more comedy. However, it would seem that "Gangsta Granny" was a kids movie. So it was a little bit of a let down to sit down and watch the movie, truth be told. But I am sure that a younger audience will find something more enjoyable here than I did. It is not that writers David Walliams, Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley put together a poor script, it just happened to be one that didn't really entertain me all that much.

The acting performances in the movie was good. Leading actress Julia McKenzie and actor Reece Buttery carried the movie quite nicely. Of course you always get something fun with actor David Walliams, and it was fun watch Robbie Williams showing up in the movie in that particular role. So thumbs up to the cast ensemble in the movie.

"Gangsta Granny" is not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time.

My rating of director Matt Lipsey's 2013 movie "Gangsta Granny" lands on a three out of ten stars.

I watched this movie ages ago and I found it alright but a bit daft at some parts. I definitely prefer the other films like Ratburger, Mr stink and Boy in the dress, but it isn't too bad.

If you want to watch a David Walliams film with your family, then i would recommend Mr Stink or Boy in the dress, but if you want to watch one for a laugh then Gangsta Granny is a good pick.

The book was very good and i enjoyed reading it, yet i think the film is a bit worse, but not too much.

I highly think that this doesn't deserve to be rated as low as it is, but not between 7-10, i would say either a 5 or 6, but i can't decide for everyone.