The Man Who Lost His Head

A: No.

Martin Clunes stars in a tale of culture clash when a sophisticated urban professional meets the provincial locals. Now why does that sound familiar?

A mostly benign and enjoyable, albeit unremarkable story with a few sloppy plot holes*. The local characters of Otakataka are fun. The biggest let down of the film is perhaps Clunes, whose character Ian simply lacks character. He's just kind of there, in the way that a body occupies space but really nothing more.

* No real reason given why Ian is dissatisfied with fiancee, making him look quite shallow and callous. Leaving the price sticker on the statue in the museum was unnecessary, we the audience know what happened. Now the museum staff also knows and will soon be making a trip to NZ to prosecute Ian and recover the statue.

I enjoyed this film which was picked at random and chosen because Martin Clunes was the star player.

Nothing really new about the boy-meets-girl / fish-out-of-water story but it was well worth seeing. The scenery alone is worth the time spent.

The kite flying / fish for dinner scene was particularly well done.

Ian Bennett works with the British Museum but is finding his passion for the past is being overtaken by the marketing savvy of his younger colleagues. When a Maori carved head is put forward for exhibition it comes to the attention of a small community in the northern part of the country. Led by Zac, they make a claim to repatriate the mask and so Ian is sent over to help sort it all out but under no circumstances let their claim be valid. Ian gets there and is immediately treated with suspicion and dislike – but can both Ian and the community find more than they first assume? Well, it's Sunday evening in the UK and its an "ITV drama premier" staring Martin Clunes. Suffice to say I did not have huge expectations for this one and the start did suggest that it would do just what I expected it to do. See now, Ian is a very English man who is repressed in his job and even his engagement is being fully organised for him by his fiancé (who describes herself as an "events manager" more than a bride-to-be). When he is sent to New Zealand to meet with some good natured yet simple people about some artefact, you can just see the "journey of self-discovery thanks to simpler life with natives" storyline being laid out in front of you for miles. And indeed so it is with this eminently predictable and simplistic drama that oozes "Sunday night" from every pore.

It is not that it is lazy so much as smug. To me it knew the basics buttons it had to push and it does it with an air or knowing people will watch it as long as it delivers these; so it goes about it with an air of not really caring that much and not attempting to find anything within the material to challenge or really engage. The script is very middle of the road and Johnson's direction matches this as he cannot help but just lap up the "beauty" of New Zealand and the people while playing it all out with a tinkly score that just irritated me. Clunes is really well cast since he does what is asked of him well. Of course, if he'd had a script that sought to do more than the basics he could have been in trouble, but there was never any danger of that here. Kawana is OK but struggles to have any chemistry with Clunes while the rest of the ethnic cast fit in well enough with characters that skate around stereotypes while also being ones.

Overall then this is an obvious affair but to target audience I'm sure it will be the warm, life-affirming entertainment that it is meant as. To my more angry, bitter soul though, it just came off as smugly bland stuff that just pitched a lazy ball to an audience looking to numb themselves to the end of the weekend with nothing challenging, interesting or exciting – and this film fits that bill perfectly.

In the tradition of comedy-dramas, where the big city boy is transformed by the charm and depth of connection experienced in a small town, this movie is delightfully and deceptively clever entertainment, that emulates Local Hero (Local Hero being a film that remains the most outstanding example the genre, but that is also one of the best movies ever made).

Character driven, strongly acted, intelligently directed and well edited, there is nothing heavy handed or over done. The humour is disarming (esp that of the Ma'ori characters similar tot hat seen more recently in Boy), and the plot unfolds easily, assuming the audience's perception.

Martin Clunies, oddly, is perfectly cast as the misfit romantic hero, delivering his lines with suitable dryness. However, the standout is the Ma-ori characters of the movie: the film is grounded in its good script and the Ma'ori cast. Just lovely.

Having moved to New Zealand from the UK a couple of decades ago, it was interesting to see what a joint production between the two countries would turn out like. I had heard great things of this and when it was repeated, I taped it to watch later. Having now settled back and enjoyed it I can recommend it whole-heartedly to people who like a good story, a happy ending and maybe just learn a little in the process. True, there were stereotypes, yes maybe it was corny and Martin Clunes is highly visibly with his doctor in Cornwall series, but it was good fun, it did show the world a little bit of NZ, and it was a very enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours. Let's be sensible about this - there's not much on TV now that's worth watching but this is. Loved the scenery, loved the people and loved the story. Good quality stuff doesn't have to be heavy and unpleasant. This is entertainment, not about saving the world and it could have been a lot, lot worse. I don't think it could have been much better.