This week we finally got to see Mindhorn, a British film we had hoped to see at the cinema but did not get a release at our local venue.
Now available to stream and own, we hoped this Comedy starring Julian Barratt, who we love as Howard Moon in The Mighty Boosh would provide some good laughs.
The film tells the story of a struggling actor Richard Thorncroft (played by Barratt) who found fame in and 80’s TV show called Mindhorn about a detective with the ability to find the truth via his cybernetic eye.
The footage shows the show to draw on classics like The Six Million Dollar Man and Bergerac except substituting Jersey with the Isle of Man.
We learn that Richard may have got too big for his boots when we see footage of him on various chat shows putting down the residents of the Isle of Man and in particular his co-star Peter Eastman (Steve Coogan) this attitude has seen him lose roles; agents and ruin his career.
Now earning a living from voiceover work on adverts, Richard is struggling to make ends meet, worse for him is Eastman’s Mindhorn character received a spin-off TV series which is a huge hit and made him a huge star with fortune to match.
We also learn he was involved with his co-star on the show Patricia Deville (Essie Davis) but that relationship has failed, in fact she has moved on and is now living with his former Stuntman on the show, Clive (Simon Farnaby, who also wrote the script with Barratt)
With his career going nowhere, Richard is given a surprise call from the police force on the Isle of Man who have been dealing with a serial killer, known as the Kestrel (Russell Tovey) who has escaped from a mental asylum. The Kestrel claims to have important information revealing the identity of the Killer but will only deal with detective Mindhorn, who he believes to be real! Therefore the Chief Inspector (David Schofield) asks Richard to done the role one more time.
Teaming up with DC Baines (Andrea Riseborough) Mindhorn is back on the case for the first time since the TV show ended as he attempts to stop the Isle of Man serial killer after meeting up with the Kestrel.
This really is a great little comedy that British Comedians tend to do so well for their big screen outings, very much like an Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa or a Johnny English this film from director Sean Foley is a lot of fun. With Richard also having to deal with relationships he has ruined and the possiblity he may have a daughter he never knew about (Jessica Barden)
The highlights are the footage of the Mindhorn TV series which looks a lot of fun and catches the likes of shows at the time and some great cameos from the likes of Simon Callow and Kenneth Branagh as we see Richard struggle at auditions.
This is a great fun send up of 80’s TV shows and well worth giving a watch
You can find the trailer here:
You can buy the film at Amazon here:
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