Wide Blue Yonder

Brian Cox plays a happy go lucky salty sea dog who is determined to bury his recently departed best friend at sea, against the wishes of just about everyone.

Whimsical, gently comedy with some funny lines and scenes occasionally punctuated with just about palatable sentiment. It lacks an element of panache that it badly needs, but the cast are fine, it's nice to see Lauren Bacall and all in all makes for a pleasant but hardly groundbreaking 90 minutes.

For reasons that are not immediately clear, this has only just (in 2019) had a release at cinemas in the UK and to be honest, it isn't really a cinema film. The comedic performances by Brian Cox are all the more appreciable because they are so unlike anything he has done elsewhere; his dancing around in his underwear (and we are not talking Calvin Klein, here!) cannot help but make you smile. Otherwise it is a gentle old-age rebellion film with occasional appearances by Lauren Bacall with James Fox making for a decent, if rather typecast, foil to Cox. Ideal for telly between Christmas and New Year to make you feel good.

All at Sea, sometimes called Wide Blue Yonder. From norway ! Brian cox, lauren bacall. When an old friend dies, wally does his best to fulfill his dying wish. To be buried at sea. But wally doesn't have a boat. And the regulations are very complicated. Lots of one liners from the mean director of the nursing home. In imdb, the character list is mostly all first names, so we're not really sure who is who. Co-stars british actor james fox as george, who seems to be here to antagonize everyone he meets. Lots of little side plots, and it's done way over the top, but it's all in good fun. Can wally raise the money needed, and overcome the endless obstacles to finally bury his good friend, in spite of everything against him? Directed by robert young. He had also done splitting heirs in 1993, with eric idle and john cleese. Story by hugh janes. It's okay. Not great, not bad.

This is a very fun film that goes overboard (yep, a pun) far too often. It's too bad. It could have been an excellent film about smart feisty older folk who take charge of their own lives when eejits try to overrule them to prove their power and make more money.

That said, there were some bursts of brilliance, thank goodness! And many good laughs. One of the best was the opening scene. It was a great action scene (YES!! I said action scene - it's all relative).

Brian Cox is at his uninhibited Scottish best.

This is a fun film to watch to just watch. Don't take anything too seriously. If only there had been a bit more care to take out the slapstick, it could have been a great one! Enjoy it anyway!

I'm not sure people realize this, but you can actually watch Wide Blue Yonder (2010) for free online at wideblueyonderthemovie.com. I don't know when this site became available, but I streamed the whole movie for free a couple of days ago and all I had to do was basically enter my name and email address.

But why is this movie so hard to find and not available on DVD or anything? I saw it at the Emden Film Festival when I was visiting some friends and keep waiting for it to become available on Netflix here but it never does. I love these kind of quirky indie Euro movies, so this was right up my alley. You will not even believe how crazy Brian Cox looks and acts in this movie! He doesn't usually do comedies like this, so this is a pleasant surprise because he's actually really funny and goofy in the movie. To me, the acting was really good and the writing was sharp so I don't get why people haven't seen or heard about this movie.