Keeping Mum

Niall Johnson's 'Keeping Mom' is a delightful black comedy. Russo and Johnson's innovative screenplay, the pleasant score and the surprising cast and the dark humour is brilliantly put together. At the same time, the characters are very identifiable. After all, Grace is just a mother who's protecting her children, Gloria just wants her husband's affection, Walter just wants to excel in his 'profession' and Lance is a sleaze you might have met once. Yet, the story cleverly takes them to extreme ends that results in murder, infidelity and voyeurism. Pretty much all the actors are cast in roles you have never seen them play before. Kristin Scott Thomas is the heart of the film (as the director himself stated) and she performs very naturally. While Atkinson has played Reverend earlier, he actually delivers a very subtle performance where he downplays the comedy (unlike his regular in-your-face comedy sketches). He is proving to be a versatile comedian. I loved how Patrick Swayze makes fun of his iconic status in an indirect way. The actor is excellent as the jerk and it has been ages since he has been in something worthwhile. Liz Smith is fun to watch as the annoying and nosy flower committee member. Emilia Fox is very good as the nonchalant killer and Maggie Smith is hilarious! This lady has never let down and she is a complete delight to watch as she goes on 'protecting' her family. 'Love the actress! The location shots are amazing. The fictitious town looks lovely yet the director manages to successfully bring out the coldness and boredom. The stunning cinematography deserves mention too. 'Keeping Mom' is a small but wonderfully innovative film that had me laughing all the way.

I thoroughly enjoyed this gentle comedy which as other reviews have mentioned is in the best traditions of British film comedy, pre "Carry On". The action is gentle paced and contains no surprises, as the plot opener spells out the likely twists and turns. The characters are stock British parts, almost "off the peg". It is not a film for belly laughs but the comedy is there, but not from Rowan Atkinson who plays the role of vicar with as straight a bat as one could wish. The other well knows actors all ham it up beautifully and the Isle of Man looks wonderful and, like the film, twenty years out of date. I particularly liked Patrick Swayze's reptilian lothario and Maggie Smith was her usual immaculate self.

This great black comedy in the British tradition appeals to all generations. I went with my mother, wife and son and we all enjoyed it very much.

My 20-year-old son, who was not accustomed to this type of dark humour, was quite startled at how murder was portrayed in an off-hand, humorous way. I felt it was a revival of a genre going back to the "Wrong Box" [1966] and before. This film does not dwell on the violence, the gore, the sentiment or the psychological aspects of murder. It seems to be standard fare for most films but it didn't seem appropriate here.

As much I respect, Rowan Atkinson as a comedian, I was concerned that this film would be in the Mr Bean or Black Adder vein. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Rowan Atkinson is a very good actor. Most of the time, he played his role as an absent-minded vicar in an understated and sometimes quite touching way. Mr Bean fans will have their moments. There's also lots of innuendo combined with more subtle humour.

Maggie Smith is as ever excellent. The rest of the cast play their archetypal characters or in the case of Patrick Swayze's caricature well.

Though I was able to predict the overall plot, the story is entertaining and there is a gentle message about marital problems, the generation gap and hypocrisy. The scenery mainly in the Isle of Man and partly in Cornwall is stunning.

I recommend it highly.

I went to this movie looking forward to a mindless comedy. I was very pleasantly surprised. Very! I was first introduced to Rowan Atkinson in the 70's and have only seen him in silly, caricature ( a caricature of himself) type roles and I love him in these roles. But he did an amazing job as a serious, thoughtful (bordering on glum) Vicar, and was absolutely believable as his journey and his attitude changed ... I would never have put him in such a role, but he really pulled it off. I was also surprised, pleasantly, at the intense spiritual undertones (okay, at times overtones) woven throughout this most enjoyable film. It was interesting to see a movie use religion as a backdrop for such a deep look into what (in my humble opinion) is clearly a non-religious aspect of human spirituality.

I had to wait quite a while before I could show Keeping Mum at the Century Theatre in Coalville, Leicestershire. Being on the non-theatrical circuit, it's always a slow process obtaining films released by Entertainment Films. However, I had a feeling this British comedy would appeal to our mature audience (including myself!). I was right, a very popular choice...and it was worth the wait. To be honest, anything featuring Maggie Smith or Judi Dench can't fail at the Century and, as expected, Maggie steals the show as usual in this picture, with a very restrained but humorous portrayal of the mysterious new housekeeper to pastor Rowan Atkinson and his errant family. Atkinson also does well, underplaying nicely in his role, but typically funny in the village soccer match. Also, a very emotional scene when he delivers his speech at the conference. I certainly won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen this very dark comedy but I will say, don't miss the very start of the film, as this is obviously of great importance to what follows. Another Brit success!