TIFF Report: Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story Review
This seems to be the season for Charlie Kaufman comparisons. While Takeshi Kitano's latest is drawing marginally warranted comparisons to Being John Malkovich the latest from Michael Winterbottom bears more than a passing resemblance to Kaufman's other collaboration with Spike Jonez, that being Adaptation.
Winterbottom fans looking to wash away the bad taste left behind by 9 Songs, rejoice. Tristram Shandy gathers a dazzling cross section of the best of British comedy for a little film that is equal parts faithful adaptation of the novel and a film about the making of that film, equal parts laugh out loud comedy and serious introspection on the craft and business of cinema.
What I knew about the cast of Tristram Shandy going in was that Steve Coogan was in the lead, which was more than enough for me. What I didn't realize was that the rest of the cast included Dylan Moran (Black Books, Shaun of the Dead), Rob Brydon, David Walliams (Little Britain), Ashley Jensen (Extras), Shirley Henderson (Trainspotting), Stephen Fry and, oddly enough, Gillian Anderson. The cast is, frankly, stunning and Winterbottom gives them all plenty of room to work their particular brands of magic.
Coogan stars as the titular Tristram Shandy, Shandy's father and, most interestingly, as himself. While the film opens with a rippingly funny exchange between Coogan and Brydon in their make up chairs prepping for the days shoot - the duo argue over what makes the difference between supporting an co-lead roles, the beginnings of a status struggle that carries throughout the entire film - before moving into an extended, and very convincing, adaptation of the book itself. Winterbottom's work shines so brightly in this costume comedy part of the film that frankly, I forgot entirely that the film had begun in the present before crew members became visible in the frame, intentionally breaking the Shandy narrative to move back into the here and now. The writing is so smart, the performances so spot on, the direction so assured that I honestly hope that Winterbottom at some point reassembles this cast to do a straight adaptation of the work. They could build it around the footage already shot and I'd be perfectly happy to drop down the price of admission to experience it again.
If that opening segment is all good frothy fun - highly intelligent froth, but froth nonetheless - then what comes later, though no less cleverly entertaining, takes the film into much deeper waters. As we begin to move into the behind the scenes world of the production we begin to see the insecurities of the actors rise up, the tension between art and commerce, the constant give and take that all film makers must endure to placate their actors, their fellow craftsmen, and - most importantly - their financiers to get a film made. Coogan is quite remarkable in this section, willingly riffing on his public persona as a bit of a feckless playboy and presenting his own life in a rather non-flattering way.
Of the support players Brydon was an absolute revelation to me as my exposure to his work until now has been somewhat limited. This is just simply a hugely talented performer, filling his scenes with a nervously hysterical energy. Walliams is pretty much a walk on role with little to do, and Fry is his typical Fry self - not a bad thing, that - but Moran, fresh off his more subdued role in Shaun of the Dead, is given a chance to display his boozy, blustery persona in a role with a chance to actually be seen outside the UK for the first time and he is simply fantastic.
Smart, beautifully shot and constructed, a bracingly honest look at the creative process, and - most importantly - just flat out fun Tristram Shandy is an unqualified success. No reservations on this one whatsoever, no bull.
