Wilt

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).

I was looking forward to this film, because I'm a big fan of Tom Sharpe's novels. At the same time I was rather apprehensive as well. This is a comedy, and comedy movies are made these days with a family audience in mind. Tom Sharpe's novel Wilt certainly does not fit into this bracket and so I expected some dreaded compromises.

Inevitably, they came. Of course, the film still has a US R-rating and a UK 15 rating, but this has more to do with the intrinsic adult nature of the basic material than with the film makers' attempts to preserve the spirit of the novel. The whole thing still felt much too sanitised, too toned down, too understated. Part of the problem might have been that filming faithfully the original story would have made some middle-aged established actors and actresses occasionally prance around in the buff, simulate drug abuse, and molest each other, but the story really needed a higher dosage of excessiveness.

I saw the movie before I read the book and it urged me to get a hold of it. The movie is very true to the book - naturally it's unfair to compare the two media, but the script writers did a splendid job. I laughed from beginning to end. Another plus is the choice of actors. Griff Rhys Jones is perfect in the title role and Mel Smith is a tailor made Flynt. I really loved this movie and it made me a BIG Tom Sharpe Fan - I've got all his books now. If you like British comedy you have to see this. You won't see Hollywood produce a "Wilt"!

Really masterpiece , never forgot this film and very funny

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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