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Henry Wilt is a a quiet, unassuming schoolteacher, constantly
turned down for promotion, with a nagging wife who never listens
to him. When a workman glimpses a woman's body just before
cement is poured into a large hole in the ground on school
property, and Wilt's crashed car is found near the scene,
he is immediately suspected of the crime. Flint, the police
inspector trying to make a name for himself, knows that Wilt's
wife has been missing for three weeks and he's determined
to break the man down and solve the case before his replacement
returns from holiday. However, Wilt makes it hard work, telling
a story so ridiculous that it simply must be the truth. But
Flint can't see beyond his own aspirations of glory and promotion...
This
film from the late eighties is an adaptation of the international
bestselling book by Tom Sharpe. I remember reading it years
ago on a recommendation and was suitably unimpressed. Humour,
like all things, is objective; in this case you object to
not being entertained! While that sounds harsh for what proved
to be a popular novel, the comment doesn't so much apply to
this movie.
You
have to say that it's undoubtedly a masterstroke of inspired
casting to have a successful comic double-act play the two
pivotal roles. I've enjoyed the talents of Mel Smith and Griff
Rhys Jones since the heady days of Not The Nine O'Clock
News. Here, their dry wit, sarcasm and timed interplay
beefs-up what amounts to a very average script. The humour
seems somehow dated, raising no more than a smile here and
there nearly 15 years down the line. The ones that work are
practically throwaway lines. As Wilt is driven away by the
police, one of his unruly students shouts out, "Don't tell
the bastards nothing!" Wilt absently corrects the youngster
with, "Don't tell the bastards anything."
The
idea that Flint suspects Wilt of being the serial strangler
does not become conducive to the plot until the contrived
conclusion. Wilt's wife, having paddled ashore from a sandbank-marooned
boat, makes a phone call from a church. Wilt, now released
by the police, arrives to collect her. The owner, a vicar,
tries to strangle her, but Wilt has his own problems when
Flint turns up to exact his revenge.
This
is a competently structured film which is sadly dated as a
comedy. Extras are thin on the ground, with only a short featurette
and a trailer. Expect to find this one in the bargain bin.
Ty
Power
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