by Julian Wood
Worth: $13.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
John Cleese
Intro:
… affectionate and amiably watchable …
To anyone in middle age or later life, John Cleese is a British institution. As a key member of the Monty Python crew and the co-writer and lead actor in the classic series Fawlty Towers, his body of work seeped into the national consciousness. Judging from this small portrait of a one-man tour of Scandinavia and Northern Europe, he has a decent following on the continent too. There is even a tunnel in Belgium dedicated to the ‘Ministry of Silly Walks’, referencing Cleese using his superbly flexible and extendable legs to memorable comic effect in a Python episode.
But what of Cleese the man at this present time? Well, it would be unfair to say the jury is out, but he has not continued to garner the universal affection that, say, his fellow Python Michael Palin has. Some people in Britain may be as tired of the old curmudgeon as he is of them. We are left with the unsettling feeling that some of Basil’s contemptuous views are hard-wired into the man behind the creation.
Cleese, who is talking to camera for most of this rambling fly and on the wall doco, references Palin several times. Here, he shows his acerbic wit. He tells us that when he has trouble getting to sleep, he looks at one of Michael’s travel shows and it takes him straight to the land of nod. This isn’t a travelogue by the way, but with its city-by-city approach through the tour, it might as well be. Cleese’s problem is that despite being a comedian touched with genius, he is basically shy to the point of misanthropic. Most of the time, he would rather be left alone and his all-male crew of helper/carers are fully aware of this. They wheel him around, or chauffeur him to gigs with obvious patient affection.
Off the cuff one liners aside, we don’t get to see much of the famous stage shows themselves. Also, we don’t get any clips of Cleese in his prime. Avoiding mere nostalgia is one thing, but resolutely refusing to show us his comic gifts is another. All we get from the show footage is the standing ovations at the end of the performances.
So, why is he doing all this in his mid-80s? Well, he has never made much secret of the fact that one of his wives (the American Alyce Faye) totally fleeced him upon divorce to the tune of about 19 million. So, Cleese is on the road, until his body packs it in, while trying to earn his way back into financial comfort.
Andy Curd’s film is affectionate and amiably watchable but far from a warts-and-all portrait.
