Round Ireland with a Fridge

After spotting a man with a fridge hitch-hiking in Ireland, the author and comedian Tony Hawks took up a challenge to do the same thing for a month.

The Irish warmed to this eccentric idea, making Tony and his travelling companion most welcome. He went on to write a book about his experiences entitled Round Ireland with a Fridge.

This features the fridge in a variety of locations – by the sea, hitching a lift, and attracting the attention of a couple of curious nuns.

In the film of the book, Tony plays himself, accompanied by his co-star, the fridge, looking well-travelled in a multi-coloured coat of graffiti from well-wishers along the way.

The making of this low-budget, independent British movie is a tale of David and Goliath - an unassuming, offbeat story taking a stand against the blockbuster giants.

I will be up front with you, I came to this film highly biased and expecting good things. Let's cover the good news first. I think Tony Hawks is a very endearing and clever comedian, who wrote a marvellous and successful book "Round Ireland with a Fridge". Ed Bye is an experienced TV director who has his name associated with some of the most successful British TV comedy output of the last three decades (including Red Dwarf). The cast contains some of my favourite entertainers. The sound track contains some charming music, co-written by TH, which usually fits the film (but maybe not always). For those who love watching films with a bit of scenery, the Irish countryside in this film is first rate and very well photographed – even when it is raining.

So it's a resounding success - yes? Errr – I am so sorry Tony, for me it is a flawed gem. Something went wrong that made a film with a potential 9 out of 10 ingredients into a one that even a TH fan could only give 7/10.

So what went wrong? Well I suspect some would say quite a lot – but I only found two aspects really affected my enjoyment.

Others have already commented about wooden acting. That was exactly how I interpreted the beginning of the film too. Tony sounds like he is reading the words rather than performing the part. Having just seen him live a few hours earlier, it was hard to reconcile that it was the same man. However, around 40 minutes into the film, Tony totally changes gear and we get a lot more of his usual whimsical style. At this point, the rest of the film follows TH in changing atmosphere – for the better. The Irish actors who are introduces from this point on are playing much more interesting characters than the dull people we have met so far and playing them with more comedy.

Then I realised – the wooden acting and dull English characters were all "sort of" deliberate. You see, I think the whole idea was that we are seeing a man who, despite a meteoric rise in his early career, has lost his way. Things are so bad he is now reduced to being daytime TV regular - a second rate one at that. What the portrayal is trying to communicate is that somewhere along the way in Ireland, the magic comes back into his life. I can only assume it's supposed to be the journey "back to the real Tony". Tony is coming back from the dead, so that MIGHT be the rationale behind the initial lifeless performance.

Deliberate though the inexpressive performance might be, I think the strategy was badly misjudged and formed the first big obstacle with this film is: was I prepared to sit through 40 minutes of watching a lifeless performance from someone who (at this stage) has lost the ability to be entertaining AND seems to be on a downward trajectory? Not everyone's cup of tea I suspect, but I had "faith in the fridge" and plenty of time on my hands, so luckily I persisted.

I have wondered if radical editing might have helped with the start of the film. Maybe a 50 minute TV special would have better matched the material.

Then we hit a second problem. There is not really enough content to show the magic of the middle part of the trip and the endearing characters Tony meets on his journey, before we rush into the charming love interest story. Not all is lost as there certainly are hints of the entertainingly off-beat (comic) experiences that are so well communicated in the book, but I felt that they were rushed, particularly having spent such a long time in the wilderness.

If you are a fan of (Radio 4 style) British / Irish humour and Tony Hawks then I think you will forgive these flaws and will still be glad you watched the film, like I did. Its just a pity it did not turn out to be the faultless classic it might have been.

The book 'Round Ireland with a Fridge' is a great read and its author, Tony Hawks, comes across as someone you'd happily stop to offer a lift to or spend a pleasant few hours exchanging amusing anecdotes down your local pub with. The film attempts to recreate the same light-hearted tone as the book; Hawks is engaging in the central role, coming across as a slightly world-weary individual who is searching for his raison d'etre in the most preposterous of situations. The film never quite matches the subtle humour of the book; nor does it do itself any favours with the portrayal of some of the characters who come across as somewhat clichéd in a 'Father Ted' kind of way (though Sean Hughes is good in a brief cameo appearance). Expect gently amusing rather than laugh out loud but with a fair degree of charm, a fine soundtrack and the likable Hawks as a genial travelling companion this is worth a watch, especially for fans of the book.

The story is of course fantastic and there are some great actors (Josie Lawrence) but Tony just isn't an actor

Having read the book upon which this movie is based I was interested in seeing how the story would transfer onto the screen. I read the book back when it was published (1998 I think) and I have fond memories of the original journey which Tony Hawks made around Ireland (with a fridge). I found the movie to be silly, with far too many clichés and Paddywhackery. A real pity. Also, while I didn't really expect the screenplay to follow the original storyline in exact detail I felt that adaptation was quite dull and boring, missing out some of the fun things that happened and concentrating on a few very obvious anecdotes. To be honest, there's nothing much to recommend about this film. The book, however, is still great!