Review of A Fantastic Fear of Everything (2012) by Thomas W — 01 May 2014

Not even Simon Pegg can pull this dreadful mess together. The bizarro movie poster had me curious but I wish I hadn't given in to the awkward naggings so that I could have had time to watch something else still on my list.

Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) plays a children's book author who has decided to switch-up his career by researching and writing a book about the most notorious serial killers of Victorian England. Pegg's Jack must have a few screws loose because he quickly becomes paranoid and becomes convinced that a serial killer is on his trail and has plans to off him.

Jack becomes a frightened recluse who grows afraid of his telephone ... and he can only find the will to leave his flat when he has an important meeting with a publisher. It becomes a night Jack will most likely never forget .

.. that is, IF he lives through it! Pegg carries most of the film on his shoulders as only late in the film do we get any real "supporting" character. The film goes from weird to bizarre to ridiculously far-fetched in a matter of minutes .

.. making it too much of a hassle to enjoy. The film's central idea -- a paranoid writer fears his own research -- could have yielded some great material but it just doesn't work here which is a shame.

If anybody could have made this work, it would have been Pegg. He did get me to laugh a few times early on; but this is just all too over the top ridiculous to enjoy. If it had been much longer I'm thinking it would have brought about a migraine.