Massively overrated

Rating: 4/10 (3 April 2008)

I honestly can't understand what all the fuss is about. Simon Pegg's many fans seem to approach his films in the same way that 70's teenyboppers listened to the latest Donny Osmond single. He's a Channel 4 comedy actor, not a film actor. The script is a mild-mannered pastiche which should be in a Channel 4 comedy sketch show. There are no real characters, no real emotions, nothing at stake. If any real screenwriter approached a producer with this script, it would go straight in the bin. Pastiche has to be cheap, cheerful and short. This isn't any of those. I watched this in the cinema. No-one laughed. It was mildly amusing. It was too long and there was plenty of fidgeting going on by the end. It belongs in the same category as all those other consumer goods that lots of people buy even though they aren't very good. If you want the same basic story made into a proper comedy film, go and see Oh! Mr Porter.