The One and Only

A really funny film with great performances all round. Was on TV last night and went on to after 1am - We couldn't turn it off, and I never stay awake that late generally!

Justine Waddell I had never heard of before but I couldn't take my eyes off her, and my wife is now in love with Richard Roxburgh! Jonathan Cake was perfect as the caricature of an Italian footballer and even Patsy Kensit didn't annoy me for once. Michael Hodgson as Stan the unlikely stud was hilarious.

The unlikely plot did not matter one jot as those great performances and the incredibly witty dialogue made it so easy to suspend disbelief. Newcastle looked great, too.

I caught this on late night TV, and missed the beginning. After a few minutes I was sat up in bed. This had caught my attention. At the time I thought it was a TV production, similar to Cold Feet (one of my favourite series). Not as much 'warmth' as Cold Feet, but this was funny, sad, tragic, etc. All the ingredients needed for a black comedy. Comedy appeals to a wide spectrum, and this won't please everyone. But to me it is one of the funniest 'black comedies' since No Surrender (1985). I'm from the North East, and found the accents quite believable. In fact, I thought that the main actors were Geordies. Never heard of either of them, but I'll be looking out for them, especially Justine Waddell, who was a bit of a dish. I shall go out and buy the Video or DVD, and give a copy to those friends of mine, who are on a similar comedy wavelength to myself.

Jimmy Nail's Spender had already shown that the North East had some great locations, so I wasn't surprised at some of the great outdoor shots in this film. I have a feeling that there will be more to come from this area, and from Justine Waddell.

This film was given the slot following Film 2005 on the BBC last night, a slot which is usually reserved for the more decent efforts. And with my mind still on the excellent King Kong preview in that programme - it looks amazing and opens this Thursday - 'The One and Only' managed to divert my attention away from that.

It is a very effective film in it's own way, the jokes, wisecracks and one-liners come thick and fast once everything gets going and I must admit some of the stuff is pretty good. Apart from Richard Roxburgh's Geordie accent slipping into Welsh on occasion and Justine Waddell trying too hard at times for her character to be a bit wacky, everything plays out in a gentle, irreverent manner until an overly soppy ending which I wasn't a huge fan of.

There was also reference to Newcastle United's poor transfer policy and tendency to pay over the odds for anything that moves, with "7 million pounds worth of groin strain", 'King of the treatment room' Italian Andrea Buffeloni who's played only 34 minutes since his transfer. Which is currently very relevant considering Albert Luque's pricey transfer in the summer and his subsequent lack of games.

All in all, a surprisingly good film which is very funny in parts. 6/10

I've just seen this movie on DVD. Its sweet and surprisingly funny. And has two great performances from Richard Roxburgh and Justine Waddell. The best scenes in the film are when they're together. You really want them to have their happy ending. The direction is erratic, and the writing's weak, but they're charming so it doesn't matter. There's also a funny performance by Michael Hodgson. Newcastle looks good, and the movie has a fun soundtrack. I wish there were cast interviews and more behind the scenes footage on the DVD. It kind of looks like it was done on the cheap. But the movie itself is sweet and funny. A good way to spend a Sunday evening.

Funny movie. I loved the Danish original and it's still my favourite. Story is the same though and still really good