Arthur's Dyke

Caught this late last night on UK BBC 1 - Wish I hadn't.

What could have been a pretty good film was badly let down by one of the worst scripts I have ever seen in British film of this type.

Stereotypical characters of the very worst type.

90% of this film was rendered unwatchable by dialogue that comes across as written by a 13 year old.

EG - Lets have a gay hotel owner. Make him camp it up like John Inman on crystal meth. Then give him some dialogue that would have been kicked out of the worst "Carry On". "Fricasee", yeah what a hoot.

A great shame.

Nice lightweight late night BBC film with a lot of familiar UK television faces such as the ever reliable Robert Daws . Could have done with more of Brian Conley as Pauline Quirke's unfaithful husband . His insensitive oafs are always a laugh . Check him out as Doug Digby , the bullying PE teacher in The Grimleys , an overlooked UK comedy of a few years back .

The scenery is , of course marvelous . Could be a tourist ad for Wales. Arthur's (or Offa's ) Dyke is spectacular . Two highpoints , for the " lads " are the almost Carry On scenes with Ellie Beaven and Rebecca Lacey . Gratuitous but fun . Worth seeing .

If you like to see films with beautiful landscapes elegant villages, and wooded forest, then this is a good film for you, but take away that and your left with really nothing, the characters were fine but should have been given more depth, and at the end when Pauline quirke decided to leave her annoying but loverble sidekicks, left me just thinking, what about there sticking together, i know one was taken to hospital, but it ruined for me what i thought was a journey of friendship and understanding for each other, but i was left thinking that Pauline's character was a bit cold Pauline quirke gives her usual sulky sarcastic performance, as always, and the others are just watchable, i think this film only pulled through due to the surroundings of where it was filmed, A hit or miss

A road trip with a difference. This film superbly charts the lives of 3 students who meet again after 20 years to conquer a long distance walk. Along the way they pick up a middle aged Pauline Quirke, who wants to leave the drudgery of her life and find something to give her a jolt. The cast is cast brilliantly, Robert Daws plays the obnoxious Arthur to great effect, bullying the others along. He tries desperately to relive his younger days, attempting to sleep with any woman that passes his way. This movie will appeal to Uk fans and lovers of great story lines alike. The ending may appear a little strange but works well with the story that had unfolded throughout.

Despite so much acting talent between the main characters, the script, direction, premise and plot are all atrocious. Looks like it was made for Sunday evening consumption. Should have been a made-for-cable or not made at all. Avoid!