Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?

If you've seen the new Bond movie, you'll have seen the trailer for this film - believe me, it in no way does it justice. I was lucky enough to see the "world premiere" at the London Film Festival and I left that cinema grinning like an idiot.

Basically, this is not your stereotypical Britflick. It's a movie with a very strong cast, characters you actually care about, and a story that's original, hilarious and moving. Top marks too for the soundtrack - every song is a diamond, and they've even got Gizz, who I recognized as the guitarist with The Prodigy, playing some wicked stuff (let's just say that the final scenes need to be seen to be believed).

I don't see any reason why this film shouldn't be right up there with "Lock Stock" and "The Full Monty", but please - ignore the trailer.

This was an absolutely shocking surprise hit for me. I watched it last night and cannot believe that it passed me by for nigh on 9 years.

From the outset I was belly laughing at it. The plot was completely surreal and I was amazed that the whole story of Harold was lapped up and accepted by people.

This is one indie movie that needs to be bigger. Trainspotting was the benchmark for how a British movie should be made, but this one moved the bar. It has just completely trashed my "top 5" of movies and I cannot fault one part of the film. I just want to sit in front of my TV and watch it again and again.

The cast was perfect. All characters were realistic, and it was just pure entertainment from start to end. I insist that you see it NOW!

I saw this movie 'by accident' last night - a friend of a friend had an old video copy - and thought it was absolutely brilliant. And I had a lousy hangover! I hadn't even heard about it before - I don't know if it ever had a proper cinema release but it clearly wasn't the huge hit it deserved to be. I can't believe some of the negative comments I've read about it. Were they watching the same film? I thought the story, the characters and the whole 70's feel of it was amazing - even if the 70's I recall wasn't quite as colourful as that. Tom Courtenay was superb as the enigmatic Harold, likewise Steven Fry and David Thewliss. Harold's speech about the tortoise was a classic. I noticed you can't even buy this film on DVD or video now but my advice is if it's ever on TV check it out!

There are a lot of negatives written about this film. I think people get upset over things that, let's face it, don't really matter much. Who cares if punks are not portrayed very well, or cars arn't painted as perhaps they should be? Tom Courtney is brilliant in this, It's a bit of fun for goodness sake. No boys with their toys, no posing hard guys, no f***k me when you're ready females, there just for decoration. Hey! no wonder a lot of guys don't like it much, how dare somebody make a film that deviates from the same tired old formula!! Myself? I enjoyed it. Of course it's not 'art,' just entertainment, and all the better for it in my view.

When you see a lot of films they unfortunately tend to blend together after a while due to formula film-making and seeing the same faces over and over again. "Churn and burn Bruckheimer films. G'day again Nick Cage".

Then out of the blue, along comes an absolute gem like WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HAROLD SMITH? This is a wonderfully original British film accessible to any nationality, extremely funny, full of heart and obviously written by someone with imagination... and not just an idea for packaging a concept. A rare movie where the clever script and performances of the cast never have you questioning the most unbelievable of circumstances.

The mostly ensemble cast could not possibly be bettered with Tom Courtney, as Harold, putting in a wonderfully restrained performance... possibly his best over a long career that includes an Oscar nomination for THE DRESSER. Good performances are too many to mention but Michael Legge as son Vince, the driving force of the story, is a real talent with impeccable comic timing and an air of innocence that will definitely see him go places.

If you're looking for something different, give this film a go and be totally immersed in the 70's, have a good laugh and be entertained by a refreshing piece of entertainment.