Un Anglais sous les tropiques

Don't be fooled by the "East Africa" disclaimer. This is about Nigeria, specifically Lagos at the time of the oil boom, when it was the capital. Although many names have been changed, the Yoruba thunder god, Shango, is not, nor are some of the others.

There was so much humor possible in that time and place (you had to laugh just to keep from crying sometimes) that of course some of it found its way into the film. The author never understood what was happening, so of course he missed a lot, but then he made the very ignorance of the British one of the butts of his humor. God I love British humor, I envy them for it and I'm grateful to them for giving us Chaplin, Bob Hope, and so many others. But I digress. And this film is not on the level of Chaplin or Hope. I was disappointed.

The biggest disappointment was watching great talents like Sean Connery, Diana Rigg and Lou Gossett sleepwalking through their roles on their way to a paycheck. They could have done better.

This film was on late night, mid week BBC television ,last week and I found it fairly easy going in general. It wasn't complicated at all although in some ways it attempted to be so due to the sex subplots involving British diplomat Colin Friels (who also bears a passing resemblance to Ewan MacGregor strangely enough). Those subplots of course came second to the themes of corruption, incompetence and confusion which I have to say reign supreme in Africa. The seemingly intelligent, progressive leader is actually corrupt to the core and is well played by Louis Gossett I thought.

The film also took a somewhat farcical view of African culture and politics which is completely over exagerrated but funny nonetheless. For example, the names and words of certain things amused me, like 'newly independent' Kinjanja for example. The local currency was the 'jan-jan' (?), the capital city was unpronouncable, and the locals believe in a god of thunder called 'Shango' which in a way becomes the driving force of the plot and causes our hero Friels all sorts of amusing moments. If struck by lightning, the victim also had to be 'cleansed' by a 'ju-ju' man??!!! True, the locals are portrayed as simple, god fearing, useless idiots which is something of a Euro-stereotype of Africans in general it has to be said. But the British diplomats, played by Friels and Lithgow, are also given rough treatment......they bend over backwards for a corrupt leader, can't deal with local politics, are xenophobic and bumblingly incompetent. But from these situations I did draw a certain degree of amusement, if only due to the fact that I lived in southern africa for over ten years and some of the stereotypes and mishaps were classic Africa.

Some good looking female actors also help the film along although the likes of Diana Rigg are under-used. Connery puts in a forgetful performance but both Friels and Lithgow are entertaining. The sticky atmosphere also comes through as does the general hurly burly life of a foreign diplomat in Africa..........I'll give it 6.5/10, easy going and good for a few laughs.

A very much lighter and more humorous version of "The Ugly American", this film spotlights the misadventures of a naive and utterly clueless diplomat as he attempts to assume the role of foreign diplomat in an unnamed African country. The lead character is vacuously played by no one that most audiences would recognize, or remember for that matter. I found myself hoping to see Sam Neill come creeping up in the next scene. Brilliant performances by Diana Rigg, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer and Sean Connery, along with several other known and unknown actors, provided intriguing counterpoint and kept me watching. As with any good satire, I was enticed to confront many assumptions, beliefs and contradictory feelings. There is much original humour and more than a few tributes to revered filmography - enough to keep me laughing, smiling and/or trying to remember what movie was being referred to, for most of the movie. Comedy/satire may not be Beresford's best long suit, but I'll take this over just about any Hollywood comedy movie I've seen in quite some time.

A quite interesting comedy about the British aristocrats in a newly-independent country of Africa. Colin Friels does a very decent job as the Mr. Leafy, the first secretary of British High Comissioner. So does Sean Connery. The screenplay has a very smart satirical flavor in it with fine sense of humor regarding royal formalities, sexual clichés and even venereal diseases.

But the main problem of the movie is perhaps its ending. The ending is quite abrupt and the scene thereafter is surprisingly mundane. In fact, I don't get the idea behind all that stuff. I haven't read the original novel but seems like now I want to check it out.

This movie was tolerable - I sat through it all, but it wouldn't have been missed at all if I'd never seen it. The antics of the British High Commission are almost (but not quite) laughable, and the Poms must have been a bit miffed that their embassy was mainly staffed by Aussies and Yanks with weak accents. In any case, the idea definitely held promise, it just didn't eventuate. Fortunately it was only 90 mins. long. Sean Connery puts in a tolerable performance but all too little, too late for this film. Even the lovely Joanne Whalley doesn't help. In all, don't bother, but if you must, there are worse things you could do.