Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story Review
Posted by Chad Webb on 03.01.2006
Unlike anything you will ever see.
Tristram Shandy/Walter Shandy/Himself: Steve Coogan
Toby Shandy/Himself: Rob Brydon
Widow Wadman/Herself: Gillian Anderson
Elizabeth Shandy/Herself: Keeley Hawes
Susannah/Herself: Shirley Henderson
Mark: Jeremy Northam
Naomi Harris: Jennie
Kelly MacDonald: Jenny
Directed By Michael Winterbottom
Release Date: January 27, 2006
Running Time: 1 hour and 34 minutes
Rated R for language and sexual content.
The first though that will pop into one's head (because it popped into mine), is "what in the world am I watching?" Even though that thought will be weighing on your brain, the laughs start instantly with some of the cleverest and innovative filmmaking I have seen in quite some time. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story is based upon the novel by Laurence Sterne called The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy. It was called an unfilmmable novel, and some say the book is impossible to get through, but that belief will be a thing of the past with the release of this riotously ingenious comedy about a movie within a movie.
Tristram Shandy follows Steve Coogan as he plays Steve Coogan and Tristram Shandy. Coogan performs various scenes as Shandy, but viewers also witness another plot, which shows a behind the scenes type storyline of Coogan's life exaggerated. The storyline concerning the book revolves around the birth of Tristram Shandy. In case you haven't noticed by now, this film is virtually indescribable, but I'm doing my best. Rob Brydon also portrays himself and Toby Shandy, who is Tristram's uncle that spends most of his time building a large-scale model of battle, in which he received a wound that no man wants. Meanwhile, Steve Coogan himself is dealing with being a new parent, among other things. I did not know anything about this, except that it was a book, so the best way to experience "cock and bull" is by learning as little as possible. On the surface, Tristram Shandy might seem too incomprehensible to take a chance on, but rest assured, this movie will cause more laughter than dozens of other comedies that will come and go.
Much like director Michael Winterbottom, Steve Coogan has become known for his versatility in mimicry and wide range of character choices. Most audience members will not recognize this popular English actor, who is most known for his starring role with Jackie Chan in the remake of Around the World in 80 Days, but he is positively brilliant as three different men in this boisterous tale. Whether he is portraying himself or Tristram or Tristram's father Walter, Coogan is unmatched with his witty, screwy, and cocky humor. As the film opens, he and co-star Rob Brydon exhibit their competitive spirit by arguing over who gets the most screen time and lead billing. This lasts throughout the entire film, and is incessantly funny with scenes of Coogan requesting that his shoes be altered so that he can be taller than Brydon because he is the leading man.
I would not dispute anyone who stated that Brydon was main treasure of this film with his monotonous teasing and side-splittingly amusing impersonations of Coogan. His awkward looking facial expressions and splendidly comical worrisome attitude unify with Coogan to establish a superb rapport. Their interactions are priceless such Brydon questioning Coogan on the color of his teeth, or complaining about his love scenes with Gillian Anderson, who just happens to be the love of his life.
Tristram Shandy has an intelligent, yet chaotic structure that is painstakingly controlled by director Michael Winterbottom. He has defied expectation by avoiding the consequences of strictly filming the book page by page. The anarchic atmosphere of endless digressions and bawdy madness is perfectly realized with panache and imagination by Winterbottom, who never ceases to amaze and shock with his projects. His crafty jump from the Shandy storyline to the making of the film creates complication, but with the aid of long time screenwriter Frank Cottrel Boyce, they form a novelty that could very well be the funniest film of the year. Formerly, Winterbottom has made 24 Hour Party People, In This World, and Wonderland, but Tristram Shandy will be his most renowned piece of work with its mischievous approach to uproarious surprises. Ultimately, the wonderment of the film is how cunningly faithful it is to the original book.
As the movie twisted and bended, I noticed similarities to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang from last year, which had the star in Robert Downey Jr. stop the film so that he could voice his own views or opinion regarding certain aspects of the filming process. While that film provided a refreshing change to the action genre, Tristram Shandy offers a change of pace to comedies, which was desperately needed. It obviously is related to the screenplay of Charlie Kaufman in Adaptation, which was directed by Spike Jonze, but no film has so adeptly included a scenario of the stars' "lives" as they are filming. Sure, this is not the first of its kind, but for a lot of viewers marks a huge stretch that many will not be willing to take. That is a shame.
After all the foolishness is set and done, the closing credits roll with more disorder and raucousness. My favorite scene occurs during a segment of an interview with Steve Coogan, which ends abruptly with a voice saying that the entire interview will be available on the DVD with deleted and extended scenes. I had never heard anything like that before in my life, and I personally cannot wait until this is release because it already has a release date set. Tristram Shandy is a film that is gradually funny like The Big Lebowski in that every time one decides to watch it, a new joke will arise that may not have been discovered before.
The 411: This film tops my list so far this year, and I know this will not venture your way during its theatrical run, but when it arrives on DVD in May I highly recommend picking it up, renting, it, or whatever. I have found myself liking British humor more and more as time goes along, and with Tristram Shandy you receive some of the funniest British actors today. I tried to describe it, and maybe my summary turned you off, but trust me when I say it is wonderful from start to finish. Remarkably, it packs so much strange humor into such a short running time, but it could have easily been longer. Avoid the dreary and commonplace films that are in theaters by hunting down this one.
