Cock & Bull

Steve Coogan is a big star in Europe, but we have never really heard of him here in the states. TRISTRAM AND SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY is a great introduction and I hope that it finds an audience here. This movie was released earlier this year and just hit DVD last week.
The story is pretty bizarre… It is an adaptation of a book (THE LIFE AND OPTIONS OF TRISTRAM SHANDY, GENTLEMAN) that is regarded as essentially unfilmable. How did they adapt it then? It is not only an adaptation of a farcical book, but a look at a film crew that is adapting the book into the film that we are watching. In this “fictional crew” is the real star of the film and the film within a film, Steve Coogan. We watch him in the adaptation as well as his exploits of ego, perversion, and his struggles of fatherhood. All of this takes place over a few days of filming. Does that sound confusing? It is, but it all makes sense as you watch it.
The humor is very British, but exceptionally clever and witty. Coogan shines as Tristram and as his fictional self, trying to be a movie star and be recognized in a room of people who only seem to remember him from a television show from 8 years ago. His battle of ego and pride with his co-star and the rest of the production are hysterical, as is his lusting after a cute set PA that escorts him from location to location. This is an odd bled of Monty Python, Christopher Guest and Steve Coogan. When you combine all of those pieces, to get a really clever comedy with many many layers.
There is one thing that I did not like about the movie though. Throughout the film, I enjoyed it, laughed and had a great time, but when the ending came, I felt overall empty. There is a lack of a certain something in TRISTRAM SHANDY that makes it totally work as a feature. That aside, it is a great time and one of the most original comedy in recent memory. I can only hope that people will discover this film on DVD and in turn discover Steve Coogan. If you don’t know who he is, you are missing out.