Shut Up and Shoot Me
If there's one thing the British film industry does well is quirky comedies. Not the high-profile Richard Curtis rom-coms, but the smaller independent ones like Shaun of the Dead. Shut Up and Shoot Me isn't a purely UK movie, but a co-production with the new centre of European filmmaking, Czech Republic.
Given the cultural backgrounds of production partners, the comedy is morbid, or dark in filmspeak. Colin (Andy Nyman), a nervous and vacillating man, is on holiday in Prague with his wife when she is accidently killed in a freak accident. Grief-stricken, he unsuccessfully tries to kill himself, so decides to hire someone to do the job for him. He engages the services of a local driver, Pavel (Karel Roden), whose demanding, shopaholic wife leaves him constantly strapped for cash. Unfortunately, Pavel is rather an inept killer, or at least when it comes to his paying client. However the pair do manage to leave a trail of bodies in their attempt to end Colin's life, the only person in the film who seems to come out unscathed.
The idea is not particularly original and has been done before in many guises throughout the world. The strength of the film lies in the chemistry between Nyman's hapless Colin and Roden's inept Pavel. They manage to make the most of the material and deliver it with deadpan conviction that creates some genuine laugh out loud moments, but for the most part is fairly predictable and obvious.
Nyman is starring in Severance which is already getting rave reviews and is out today.
Shut Up and Shoot Me is showing as part of the Best of the Fest on Sunday 27 August 13:00 at Cineworld, Edinburgh.
Given the cultural backgrounds of production partners, the comedy is morbid, or dark in filmspeak. Colin (Andy Nyman), a nervous and vacillating man, is on holiday in Prague with his wife when she is accidently killed in a freak accident. Grief-stricken, he unsuccessfully tries to kill himself, so decides to hire someone to do the job for him. He engages the services of a local driver, Pavel (Karel Roden), whose demanding, shopaholic wife leaves him constantly strapped for cash. Unfortunately, Pavel is rather an inept killer, or at least when it comes to his paying client. However the pair do manage to leave a trail of bodies in their attempt to end Colin's life, the only person in the film who seems to come out unscathed.
The idea is not particularly original and has been done before in many guises throughout the world. The strength of the film lies in the chemistry between Nyman's hapless Colin and Roden's inept Pavel. They manage to make the most of the material and deliver it with deadpan conviction that creates some genuine laugh out loud moments, but for the most part is fairly predictable and obvious.
Nyman is starring in Severance which is already getting rave reviews and is out today.
Shut Up and Shoot Me is showing as part of the Best of the Fest on Sunday 27 August 13:00 at Cineworld, Edinburgh.
posted by Chris Patmore at 1:18 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home