Le Jour viendra où...

I am just back from the first public showing of this movie in the UK at the Cameo Edinburgh. This was billed as having a Q&A session with Chris Morris, usually this means the director is in London and its a satellite link up but no, he was actually here. My initial thoughts about the film was that its a very funny in a similar vein to Four Lions, its about inept would be terrorists and the authorities on their tail. The spin with this movie is that the FBI are out to entrap and this time its black Muslims in the vein of the 5% nation or nation of Islam. The main reason this does not feel as impactful is that the terrorist events which informed four lions are somewhat in the past. Four lions felt very immediate as there was a perception these events could happen anytime. With the war on terror on American soil now wound down, The Day Shall Come does not have the same weight. Its masterfully written and hysterically funny in parts however the premise that the FBI/authorities are as inept and that they only arrest and convict innocents will not go down well in some places. The fact that the terror threat has greatly reduced hints that they must be doing something right? And that is the main difficulty of the film. The fact that the war of terror strategy has worked not only counters the narrative of the film, the reduced threat means its no longer as current as Four Lions was. The cast and directing are excellent as is the dialogue and there are many shockingly great twists. It does feel an odd choice to use the black Muslim movement as a focus for the movie, I will be watching with interest how they respond to it. As for the Q&A with Chris Morris? There werent many questions from the audience as people seemed a bit intimidated by his intelligence. He did go on to explain his research suggested the FBI were the biggest "recruiter" of terrorists and explained how. I feel he will be doing alot of explaining once this hits the theatres. Highly recommended although thankfully things have moved on since Four Lions, which is surely a good thing.

The Day Shall Come: Chris Morris directs a dark comedy/satire/thriller along the same grounds as Four Lions but this one doesn't quite reach the Lion's level. It strays into SpyFi with the constant monitoring through drones cctv, wires, hidden bodycams. Morris says that this is based on 100 true tales of LEAs in the US entrapping hapless individuals incapable of carrying out any real attack. Moses (Marchant Davis) is the leader of a small cult which worships Jesus, Black Santa, Muhammad and Toussaint Louverture, a duck told him to found it (when he doesn't take his medication animals speak to him). His small group based in Miami is dragged into an elaborate plot involving a false Sheikh, guns, uranium and a horse.

The film is quite funny in parts but it doesn't hang together so well. The FBI/Police office politics, insults and wisecracking involving Anna Kendrick, Denis O'Hare and James Adomian seem divorced from the main plot yet they seal Marchant's fate. Things perhaps get over-complicated when a nazi gang are introduced as end customers for the uranium. Worth watching and with a running time of 88 minutes it doesn't drag but I was expecting better from Morris. 6/10.

The Day Shall Come has a lot of interesting ideas going for it, and the first half hour of the movie is great, but unfortunately it does not manage to develop into anything interesting. The protagonists family and friends are a charming bunch but unfortunately they are 2-dimensional props in the universe. The drama between them feels too hastily executed and forced. Despite the potential for more their relationships never seem develop in any significant way. The premise is strong, but the absurdity and incompetence of both the government agencies and the protagonist makes it hard to get invested in the problem. What bothered me the most was the story featured several themes that I didn't think added anything substantial to the story or could have been used better. Especially the story around the crane felt like a missed opportunity to keep the misunderstandings rolling.

All in all it felt like a four lions knock off. It had a few laughs, but wasn't nearly as funny.

I'm a huge fan of Chris Morris. Ever since stumbling on The Day Today one evening on BBC 2, I've found his output to be pretty much spot on. Four Lions is easily one of my favourite films, and Brass Eye is one of the few perfect comedy series I've ever seen.

With that said, The Day Shall Come is less of an outright comedy than Four Lions, and may alienate some fans due to the American setting, mostly unknown cast, and relatively stripped back levels of humour. Does that mean it's not a good film? Absolutely not. Does it mean that anyone who expected an out and out comedy in the vein of FL will go away disappointed? Quite possibly, and I'd wager that the lower scores on here are testament to that.

On the whole, the cast do a great job. Moses is an inherently likeable character, and for that reason I found myself rooting for him a fair bit. His wife was played in a similarly loveable manner, and the two of them had a great deal of chemistry.

Anna Kendrick (of whom I'm not really a fan) has some great lines and is very believable as an FBI agent with one eye on career advancement and the other on, you know, functioning like an actual human being.

The rest of the supporting cast are all perfectly fine, with nothing really standing out as bad to me at least.

Where the film really shines is in the dialogue however. I won't quote it here, but there's one line about a toy weapon that made me howl, and another gag about mangos which had me chuckling after the movie was done.

In all, it's a good comedy and a superb satire, but recalibrate your expectations accordingly. This isn't a British film, it's an American one with some excellent writing from a British national treasure. Go in with as little foreknowledge as possible and you'll enjoy it. Just don't expect another Four Lions.

I had been looking forward to this film forever as four lions is possibly my favourite film of all time and still has me roaring with laughter after multiple views. However where four lions got things right this film misses the mark and didn't even bring the smallest of chuckles from me at any point a remarkably average film and just not funny enough for a supposed comedy.