Wilt: Eva, una bambola e il professore

Griff Rhys Jones plays the part of poor Henry Wilt perfectly for me, in a film that stays closer to the book than most do.

The rest of the performers are well cast too, especially the characters of Sally and Eva, who are exactly as I imagined them. I guess you can't go wrong with Alison Steadman though, and Diana Quick was just as believable. Their relentless attempts to undermine and, basically, destroy Wilt add pathos to what would otherwise be a straightforward comedy in a most effective way.

My favourite parts though have to be Wilt's interactions with the 'students' and especially with Inspector Flint and the psychiatrist. His intellectual superiority shines through, and to me is absolutely hilarious.

There is some wonderfully hammy melodrama in the church/churchyard scene later in the film, just to round things off nicely. What more could you ask for?

Wonderful entertainment.

Okay, so 'classic' may be a little overstating 'Wilt,' but, whenever British comedy films are mentioned, it never even gets a look in, which I feel is a little unfair. Yes, there are no real 'stars' in the film to broaden its appeal. Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones may be easily recognisable faces on UK TV, but it's unlikely anyone will be too familiar with their work overseas.

Perhaps that's 'Wilt's' major charm – it's a very British film. And I don't mean the weird portrayal of British life that Richard Curtis seems to want to sell the worldwide audiences. The plot is simple: Jones plays the titular character, Mr Wilt, who, after years of living with his overbearing wife, finds she's disappeared. He doesn't seem that bothered, whereas dopey local detective, played by Mel Smith, feels the need to prove that Wilt is more murderer than he seems.

There may be only a few 'laugh out loud' moments in the film, but that doesn't mean that you won't smile. The humour is, largely, subtle and understated, as are the performances. Perhaps the best way to enjoy the film is to lower your expectations slightly. Don't go thinking it's going to be a massively laugh-a-minute ride. Its charm is its poignancy and the feeling of overall sadness about a group of people who, by and large, aren't really happy with their lives, no matter how hard they pretend to be.

If you want something with plenty of poignant, subtle black humour, you may want to give this a try. I'm guessing it'll only appeal to us Brits, but I'm hoping it'll also strike a chord with other nationalities, too.

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Attempts to launch TV comedians on the big screen are usually about as appetising as cold sago, but this adaptation of Tom Sharpe's novel generally manages to buck that trend.

Gryff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith both play characters who have professionally reached an impasse: Jones plays a grade 2 humanities lecturer whose been reduced to teaching Liberal Studies to football hooligans at the University of Mid Anglia, while Smith plays a frustrated detective who yearns to nail Jones as the Swaffham Stranger.

Like countless British comedies of yore the film affords the pleasure of plenty of familiar faces (including a strikingly young and slim Roger Allam), although the four-letter words are rather out of place (and I don't recall Charles Hawtrey ever sharing the screen with an inflatable doll).

The first time I saw Wilt was in the cinema and laughed so hard that had tears in my eyes. I think I most enjoy this movie because it reminds me of the classic English humour, unfortunately not too frequent nowadays, at least as far as I am concerned. Some years later I was luckily enough to be able to tape it from TV and laughs were back.

I haven't seen any people who act in this film elsewhere, but that does not discourage me from being fond of their job. The man who plays the hapless Wilt is kind of funny, and inspector Flint's character is hilarious as well. Eva Wilt is a complete puppet at Sally's will, who turns out to be a bitch/slut.

The entire script is hysterical. My favorite parts are those in Sally's party, when she ties Wilt to that inflatable dolly and both appear in the main lounge, causing the dj to announce there is a wedding engagement coming. Also when Wilt talks the police into believing he has turned his wife's corpse to pieces of meat that have been put into cans of food and panic takes them over, prompting them to start checking the cans. How about when he is driving home from the party and the dolly surfaces behind in? Then he stops and goes insane by stabbing the dolly yelling something like "Explode, cow!".

As it's been pointed above, an hysterical movie. Pick it if you wanna pass one and a half hours of nonstop fun. Ten out of ten.

Many reviewers seem to have missed the point of this film. It was a vehicle for the talents of Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith who were the top TV comedy team of the period. This film even incorporates one of their trademark comedy sketches,where they face each other in profile whilst carrying on a comedy dialogue.

So the novel they used was just a peg on which to hang their comedy characters. It has its funny moments.

In fact it is probably the best of their films. Morons from outer space didn't even achieve a cinema release The film actually performed reasonably in the UK but sank without a trace elsewhere.