There are a great many films which are painful in their bland mainstreaminess.
And a very few which manage to pull it off, and remain funny to virtually everyone, over a period of several years.
This John Cleese vehicle from the mid 1980s manages to fit into the latter category - it is simply such a very well crafted traditional comedy, that it is impossible not to be touched.
Here we see Cleese very much in Basil Fawlty mode, as an aspiring head-teacher for whom things just don't run smooth when it really matters.
The other classic elements of British Farce are there - major misunderstandings, people getting undresses, well-intentioned old ladies who say the wrong things at the wrong times, and of course Geoffrey Palmer as a straight man.
And just a touch of poignant surrealism in the way the final minute leading into the credits is played out, to offset the traditional production values.
It's straightforward, and unchallenging, and probably the best film about lateness ever made. High praise indeed, for something so mainstream.
And a very few which manage to pull it off, and remain funny to virtually everyone, over a period of several years.
This John Cleese vehicle from the mid 1980s manages to fit into the latter category - it is simply such a very well crafted traditional comedy, that it is impossible not to be touched.
Here we see Cleese very much in Basil Fawlty mode, as an aspiring head-teacher for whom things just don't run smooth when it really matters.
The other classic elements of British Farce are there - major misunderstandings, people getting undresses, well-intentioned old ladies who say the wrong things at the wrong times, and of course Geoffrey Palmer as a straight man.
And just a touch of poignant surrealism in the way the final minute leading into the credits is played out, to offset the traditional production values.
It's straightforward, and unchallenging, and probably the best film about lateness ever made. High praise indeed, for something so mainstream.