Faintheart

I saw Faintheart on a flight from Hong Kong to Sydney and loved it so much, I watched it three times and wanted the flight to go on longer (and I loathe flying!). It was beautifully scripted, guffaw-out-loud funny and very touching at the same time. There wasn't a weak performance or an extraneous line in the entire screenplay, the hero's character development was believable and the baddies were satisfyingly vanquished. The sub-plot involving male, female (and juvenile) Trekkies was absolutely hysterical. If you liked Brassed Off, you'll love this. (Note to female EastEnders fans - you won't believe how Joe, the schizophrenic teenager whose barmaid mum had an affair with Phil Mitchell, has grown up (Paul Nicholls)!)

Knowing nothing about Faintheart before watching it I was fooled by the opening sequence where two armies were preparing for battle so imagine my surprise when a cell rang and the scene was revealed to be a re- enactment in modern world. After that I was excited to see what the movie has to offer because it had never occurred to me before that there are no comedies about Live Action Role Playing and anyone who is familiar with that hobby knows that it is a goldmine of hilarity.

Faintheart indeed takes great advantage of its unique setting and shows us how imaginative people have to be to be able to enjoy dressing themselves up as knights or mages and swinging a sword made of plastic. However, at about 70% into the movie they seem to have run out of funny scenarios and choose to close the show by introducing clichés that we have seen so many times before.

The main male cast consists of Ewen Bremner and Steve Ryland who i hadn't heard of before but after looking them up on IMDb I was surprised at how many movies I had seen without noticing them. The female lead is Jessica Hynes from the amazing series "Spaced" looking better than ever. It was interesting to see her act in a role that requires a somewhat more serious approach but she pulls it off quite well.

Overall Faintheart is an enjoyable piece of British cinema and if I had kids I would make sure they saw this movie.

This is the second British comedy I've seen recently that I'd never heard of until a friend recommended it to me (the other one is "Blow Dry"). I'm completely perplexed. The filmmakers went to all this trouble to get a brilliant script and cast with matching performances and then what? - they forgot to tell the UK audience that it exist?! Also, it was never marketed outside the UK (although it seems to have had a Swedish premiere according to IMDb Pro), no doubt losing millions in the process!

It's really, really disheartening to all filmmakers everywhere to think that you can get everything right and still get it so wrong. If anyone knows the inside story on what happened (and to "Blow Dry" for that matter) then please let me know.

In the meantime, this goes straight into my private hoard of great comedies that I keep locked in my study, away from prying eyes, for those rainy days! :-)

Many familiar stars if you're a fan of British films or TV! A comedic powerhouse filled with something for everyone. Comedy, romance, drama & enough action to please any intelligent person! The plot is strong & character development is excellent. Great family movie because it lacks sex, drugs or vulgarity. If you seek a laugh your socks off night of entertainment then this is your choice!

Faintheart (the character) is a Viking reenactor (as opposed to a Bravehearted Scot) who, despite having married and sired a son already in middle school, has never quite matured enough to be able to separate his real and fantasy lives. As a consequence, his wife has separated from him; and the film concerns his search for a pathway back into her heart. (Hey, "Richard", what's with the eyeliner?)

As the first Yank to review this film, it's not clear to me why, at a key re-enactment, the audience would cheer for the Vikings over the Normans, unless the Vikings were merely the "home team" at the site of the event, or unless the Brits, after nearly a millennium, still resent the Norman invasion. (Historically, the Vikings launched raids on England, but it took the Vikings who had settled Normandy to later conquer England. According to geneticists, however, due to DNA similarities across sources, the percentage of today's population with Norman blood is indeterminate.)

Faintheart (the movie) is an unusual setting for the standard RomCom. The execution is well-done, but unexceptional. The acting is good all around, but one is continually impressed with the juvenile leads. Faintheart's son, Martin (Joseph Hamilton, in his first credited film here), looks like a reincarnated teenage Jodie Foster, with the covered-left-eye haircut. Martin's girlfriend, Emily, is played by Chloe Hesar, an accomplished TV actress, apparently appearing in her first big screen effort.

Faintheart is recommended for an easy-going one hundred or so minutes of undemanding entertainment.