Are You Being Served?

I watched this film last night on a free DVD given away with a national newspaper and i have to say my wife and i I ENJOYED IT! Yes,it has oodles of cheese and camp moments but it was fun.I love the funky,Are you being served? opening theme tune at the beginning and the movie feel picture quality.Yes,the script is dodgy but not as dodgy as the Costa Plonka in a studio with cheap sets and the pretty abrupt ending with young Mr Grace storming through the hotel wall in an armoured vehicle dressed like he has just stepped out of Dad's Army! I never really cared much for the series only having seen a few episodes so i wasn't affected by the repeat joke syndrome so i found the film really amusing.Menswear!

I have seen "Are you being served" many times over since the early 90's. In fact, I could probably restate word for word every episode made over the 13 year run (1972 - 1985). While I loved every episode of the TV series, the movie did not provide the same level of satisfaction.

MOVIE PLOT: Grace Brothers store is being remodeled and the crew is offered a 2 week Holiday vacation in Costa Planka.

ACTING: If you are very familiar with the TV Series, you will notice right away that most of the jokes were taken directly from the various episodes. One joke per episode with laugh tracks worked very well. But when you combine 5 or 6 and remove laugh tracks, you quickly lose interest. It looked like they grabbed whatever material they had from the earlier TV series and just cramped it into a 90 minute movie in a different setting... You will also notice that the characters looked very distracted and from time to time it seemed like they weren't even paying attention to the surroundings. Pay attention how the hostess girl in the hotel repeats her line word for word within a minute when she is trying to cuddle up with Mr. Humphries. Looked like she was reading directly from the script. There were also many inconsistencies. At one point everyone wanted to run for the bathroom, but after Mrs. Slocombe used it, no one seemed to want to go anymore??? Have they forgotten? Another one is when they kept writing notes to each other at the dinner table. I can see how there could be one mixup, but 3 or 4? One of the very first episodes featured a similar mixup but it was done as a part of a bigger scheme. Not in a movie, though.

SET: Here is another failure. The set looked extremely cheap, it was very obvious that the whole movie was done inside a TV studio, the lighting and shadow was even worse than in a TV series. The general feel of the set was like a Soap Opera. They must have had a very little budget to do this movie. It would have worked much better if they did 3 separate episodes 30min each, with laugh tracks.

CONCLUSION: If you love the TV series, it is worth to watch this movie. It has its moments but for the most part there was nothing new that the 30 min. series offered.

This film is slightly disappointing as unlike the series, there's far more slapstick "Carry On" style hijinks and not as many jokes. Still I can't deny that it doesn't have it's moments especially after the notes get passed around. Still one really misses the series trademarks and the fact that the cast are only briefly at the store.

As a fan of the wonderful Britcom, I searched and searched for a copy of this movie. When I finally found it, I was disappointed. I like the characters much better in the store -- they just don't do well outside of Grace Brothers. It was a bit dull that many of the jokes were pulled from the TV shows (e.g. the "Dear Sexy Knickers ..." note; Mrs. Slocombe making offensive noises while blowing up her air mattress, etc.) and the ending was an abrupt letdown. Still a worthwhile watch for any fan of the show, but don't expect a lot.

This big screen outing of Are You Being Served is not as loved as the series is but it still features the original (and by far the best) cast at the top of their game and features lots of laugh out loud moments.

The film struggles to adapt with not having the laughter track behind and the jokes are left hanging because of it. Without it the piece doesn't flow as it could which is a shame because the jokes do come thick and fast.

Also some routines that have previously been used in the series are recycled but they are worth another viewing because they are so good.

Overall a good rarely seen film that is well worth a look for those who already know the series and for those just discovering it.