Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise

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

You won't find a much tougher crowd for a comedic movie to premiere to than one assembled just three days post-9/11. That was the fate of a pair of new Danny Boyle movies that premiered at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival, and such is the power of VACUUMING COMPLETELY NUDE IN PARADISE that it was able to evoke convulsive laughter even from an audience this somber.

Boyle, who soared with the British films SHALLOW GRAVE and TRAINSPOTTING, then fell on his face with the Hollywood duds A LIFE LESS ORDINARY and THE BEACH, is clearly back in his element and back in form. It would appear that he's been reborn of the freedom that digital technology affords today's daring (and invariably under-financed) filmmakers. He's obviously fascinated with the limitless possibilities for camera placement, embedding miniature cameras all over the sets to permit individual scenes to be viewed from a rapid-fire succession of perspectives. His editing and music skills, combined with stellar camera-work by noted dogme cameraman Anthony Dodd Mantle, results in a raw, exciting new 'dogme-MTV' type of look that's certain to accelerate the acceptance of digital film-making.

But 'look' alone cannot make a movie. You still need a script to work with, and Boyle is blessed here with an outstanding one from Jim Cartwright. The story is nothing less than a bold and brilliant comedic re-conceptualization of Arthur Miller's DEATH OF A SALESMAN for the digital age. (Note: People with actual sales jobs will be just as helpless to resist from laughing as anybody, but for them, the laughter will be of the 'so that I might not cry' sort - trust me.) Unlike Miller, Cartwright doesn't play coy with what the salesman is actually peddling -- you know right from the start that it's vacuum cleaners.

The 'surrogate' character in this film is a likable young slacker named Pete (Michael Begley) who loves dance music and has some mixing talent, but hasn't been able to carve out any kind of career in the music biz. His girlfriend has to perform strip-o-grams in order for them to make ends meet, and they both want out of this situation in the worst way. The girlfriend's plight gets especially humiliating one night when she performs at a retirement party for a vacuum cleaner salesman, and on a suggestion, Pete decides to pursue a career in this profession as a way out for both of them.

Enter the most blazing, mesmerizing, maniacal lead performance by an actor in many a moon. Pete is made an apprentice to star salesman Tommy Rag, played with incredible over-the-top intensity by veteran Timothy Spall. If there were an ABSOLUTE 'best actor' award for the BEST performance, period, in a given year, Spall would be my hands-down choice for 2001. He makes EVERY ruthless salesman in movie history (Kurt Russell in USED CARS, the gang from THE BOILER ROOM, etc.) look strictly 'soft sell' by comparison. This is truly a performance for the ages, one that's certain to skyrocket Spall's status in the acting community. There just aren't WORDS for it . he's off the MAP here!

You may think that you've seen the 'rookie paired with vet' thing done to death in the movies, both in dramatic and comedic contexts, but I can assure you that you've never seen anything even close to the 'eye of the hurricane' variant that Boyle has come up with here. What he's managed to pack into little more than an hour's running time is astounding ... a fully realized comic tragedy of Shakespearean proportions that manages to be relentlessly and mercilessly funny. Having now seen it for a second time following a near six-month wait since that memorable premiere in Toronto, I can add that it holds up sensationally to a repeat viewing. (Spall speaks with an unfettered Manchester accent, and there's no way that American audiences can absorb ALL of his great lines in one viewing.)

About the title: It comes from Tommy Rag's one moment of quiet reflection in the movie ... when he relates to Pete a very Freudian dream he had after seeing a chilling portent of doom on the previous day. It's a short-lived peek into Tommy's hidden humanity ... but this scene definitely adds resonance to the memorable final scene.

Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise - isn't that one of those rare titles for a movie that you just have to ponder over for a little while, like Duck You Sucker! or Pillow of Death? If the movie doesn't quite live up to the its title like 'Sucker' did or 'Pillow' definitely did not, then it's to director Danny Boyle's credit that he keeps it moving fast and maniacally but with his own kind of sensitivity to the characters that doesn't make us see them as too pathetic or too "out-there" to care. He also films this story of a wannabe DJ working as a vacuum salesman (Michael Begley), paired as a rookie with the veteran/hard-bitten and ranting and raving man (Timothy Spall) who could definitely tangle with Alec Baldwin in Glegarry Glen Ross to see who wins out in selling something to a reluctant or just not-there customer, like it's a movie on the run for $100.

In a way that makes it an amazingly brash affair in a good way; we see these guys in their car or Spall making a sale or just Begley at home freaking out when his girlfriend leaves him as if it's all candid or on the run. He shoots with several little cameras in a car or shoots with a dirty filter in a dance hall, and if one has seen Slumdog Millionaire or 28 Days Later you may notice a similar lucid insanity (if that makes sense) of style. In another way it can be distracting to the actual plot, or whatever of it there is, but he thankfully allows his actors to take over much of the control throughout.

While Begley, a British TV actor I've never seen before and may not see again, was very good in that fresh-faced "what-is-this-world" perspective (with a breathless freak-out after finding a dead body that is priceless), it's Timothy Spall's show. An actor who's been in plenty of Mike Leigh films and some big blockbusters like Harry Potter, Spall imbues his character with purpose and drive and a deliberate knack for getting people with him killed while driving, playing outrageously simply and funny motivation tapes with hardcore music and "Sell! Sell! F***ing Sell!" blasting away, and acting totally out of control but devilishly in control at the same time. It's remarkable work considering it's just a TV movie, but any moment he's on screen, especially those last moments that (un)intentionally echo La Strada, you can't look away for the better.

Just saw this on DVD last night. It is not a comedy, although there are some very funny bits in it. There are also some deeply poignant moments in the movie,

particularly involving Pete.

And, there are some wonderful insights into to what makes this salesman's

character tick. Timothy Spall is brilliant, and his supporting cast members,

including Michael Begley and James Cartwright, are well suited for their roles.

Worth a look for its current take on salesmen, selling and the end of an era. A dark "Death of a Salesman", or darker "Oh Lucky Man" so to speak.

"Death of a Salesman" meets "Glengarry Glenn Ross" on acid, this portrait of the empty, horrible life of door-to-door selling was made on the cheap in 20 days for the BBC. It has Boyle's characteristic energy, and playful eye and a great, if occasionally over-the-top performance by Timothy Spall as a salesman brilliant at his craft if without a shred or morality or self-worth left, along with a solid performance by Michael Begley as the young 'rookie' assigned to apprentice with Spall.

All that good stuff said, I just wish this was deeper. It's dark, certainly, but there's a certain familiarity and even glibness to it's manic attack on capitalism. Enjoyable, fun, sad, but it feels like inside this good movie was a great one looking to get out.