Stella Street

This Stella Street 'Movie' is basically a retelling of the original concept right from the start with a couple of new subplots thrown in for good measure, although those who followed the original series will be a little disappointed to hear many jokes taken directly from earlier episodes.

All in all it does capture the essence of the series quite well and has most of the original characters (plus some additional ones provided by the always good Ronni Ancona), so I just have one question - where was Roger Moore?

P.

Not anywhere as good as the series. The impressions by Phil Cornwell and John Sessions (plus Ronni Ancona) are still great, and spot-on, but, beyond that, the movie is quite weak. Has some incredibly funny moments, but many flat spots too.

Basically this film suffers the same problem most TV series suffer when being transformed into a movie: it's much tougher having a decent plot for 90 or so minutes than 25 or so minutes.

Like Kev above I'm a fan of the now-defunct TV series which had plot only as a peg on which to hang silly gags and good funny characterisations of famous movie actors and rock stars.

I spent the first 20 mins of the movie worrying that it was'nt like the show, but then its an 80 minute film so it would'nt be! Once I'd got my head round the format it works perfectly well.

All the "stars" are present and correct and the story does allow some nice sequences such as the idea that Jack Nicholson can play cricket :) If you have never seen Stella Street the TV series then you should settle into this quicky and enjoy the performances (though some of the venacular may leave you scratching your head). If you know the show then just prepare for "a period of adjustment".

Mike.

the 10 minute TV episodes were good fun, in the times before the dreadful john culshaw or one-trick alastair mcgowan, but the 75minute film seemed old, trying to cash in on celebrity impressions that Sessions/Cornwall helped mould themselves.

they employ the talented ronni ancona (good to see her without mcgowan to bring her down) but used her sparingly, often as just a prop, to save sessions/cornwall from cross dressing too much, and i only found out she played so many different characters in the credits.

There is a sort of storyline, which i guess you need in a 75min feature, but they end up re-writing all the past series to make it work, virtually eschewing the TV work in favour of the film.

it passed the time, and made you appreciate good impressions, but i would have preferred a re-run of the tv series.

shame on columbia for ignoring this little gem of a film, which proves you do not need big budgets to make a witty and wonderfully entertaining film. better than the TV shows, this is made with style, affection and a lot of talent. even when the voices and looks are not spot on they get the feel and the manner of the stars they so brilliantly mimic. when i see the amount of rubbish that is released in cinemas i find it baffling that something like this goes straight to DVD and the on TV, and in both cases the powers that be decide not to promote it. this is as good as spinal tap was on the music scene quite different i know but still very knowing and spot on. the first time i saw it was with people who had no idea what this was about but still fed about laughing all the way thru, do yourself a big favour buy or rent it today