Review of The Hippopotamus (2017) by Foxychalet — 22 Mar 2022
The two stars are for Roger Allam who was criminally underutilized in a roll he was born to play. The novel is one of my favorite of all time and they removed basically everything that made it good. I had heard that they brought in John Finnemore, one of my favorite writers, to fix the script, but I think it was too far gone because there was very little of his recognizable style and humor in the final product.
What was left in the end was a story that only makes sense if you've read the book, but also is not going to satisfy fans of the book. It's a wodehousian country house farce with all the fun removed, a mystery stripped down to its most mundane aspects, and a comedy at which you will not laugh.
It makes me sad, but it really is just a terrible film. You should read the book however because it is fun, intriguing and will make you laugh out loud.
This review of The Hippopotamus (2017) was written by Foxychalet on 22 Mar 2022.
The Hippopotamus has generally received mixed reviews.
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