Review of Clockwise (1986) by Michael D — 25 May 2009
Basil Fawlty is undeniably the greatest comic creation of John Cleese and though Clockwise's Mr Stimson is a little more restrained and refined, the Fawlty influence is clear. No bad thing of course, as it makes Clockwise quite a funny film.
Cleese is the uptight, time obsessed comprehensive school headmaster who due to a platform mix up with Jim Branning from Eastenders ends up on a comical cross country journey from London to Norwich in order to get to a conference on time.
The film plays a witty script alongside some great physical comedy (the farmer sat on the tractor is extremely funny) and at times just becomes downright bizarre (the whole monastery sequence is a little far fetched) as well as boasting a range of excellent supporting characters, Joan Hickson's old lady who won't shut up is particularly good.
On the downside there are a number of pointless sub plots which don't really come to anything or lend anything to the film and the conclusion feels a little under done and out of steam, but Cleese is an absolute gem and this is likely to be the closest the world will ever come to a Basil Fawlty movie.
This review of Clockwise (1986) was written by Michael D on 25 May 2009.
Clockwise has generally received positive reviews.
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