Nativity!

Wednesday 25th November 2009

Dir. Debbie Isitt
Rating ***

Christmas comes but once a year and it is just the season for a family film filled with lies, deceit and heartbreak. Three years after her mild success with Confetti, British-born director Debbie Isitt introduces another comedic tale using her signature improv style and starring old pals Martin Freeman, Jason Watkins and Marc Wootton, but this time with Extras star Ashley Jenson and comedian Alan Carr, not to mention a classroom of kids.

Having given up a career as an underachieving actor, Mr Maddens (Martin Freeman) takes up his fallback job as a primary school teacher at the notoriously hopeless St. Bernadette’s state school. But after having received a biting review of his directorial debut in the school’s Nativity play and been dumped by his girlfriend (Ashley Jensen) on Christmas Eve, Maddens’ holiday spirit is diminished into one that resembles something of Scrooge. So when St. Bernadette’s’ headmistress (Pan Ferris) proposes that Maddens takes up his director’s hat once more for the last Nativity before her retirement, his initial response is of trepidation. But when he bumps into his old-time drama buddy and long-time rival Gordon Shakespeare (Jason Watkins), who is now also a primary school teacher, but at the posh Oakmoor private school up the road, his resentment gets the better of him and a small fib about his play being filmed for TV quickly spirals out of control and turns into a tangled mess concerning Hollywood, agents and the rights for a book. His only hope is to find a way to transform his lies into reality so as to avoid being arrested for fraud and, most importantly, disappointing his class.

Although Nativity! is refreshingly absent of over-the-top Christmas slapstick and delivers some truly comedic moments (specifically from Jason Watkins), Isitt’s hit-and-miss improv is demonstrated with the back-and-forth teetering between funny and not. Take Mr Poppy (Marc Wootton), Mr Maddens’ new teaching assistant hired to help with the production of the play. While his unruly, yet innocent, schoolboy antics are initially amusing, there are moments when they go from comical to downright odd. Nevertheless, the true stars of the film are the St. Bernadette’s schoolchildren, most of who are ordinary kids with little or no previous onscreen experience. As the film progresses, the Nativity production takes shape and culminates in a heart-warming show, centring on the true meaning of Christmas rather than its commerciality; and while there are some peculiar moments of comedic oddities, the film succeeds in delivering that fuzzy feeling this Yuletide.

PUBLISHED IN SCREEN JABBER

Russell Brand: Scandalous

Tuesday 29th September 2009

Russell Brand scores again in another hilariously cheeky live performance. After the infamous scandal of Brand and Jonathan Ross’ hit on Andrew Sachs last year, it seems the world wind of media coverage it received has channelled into a great source of comedic material for his latest stand-up tour.

Typical to Brand’s self-proclaimed narcissism, he bases Scandalous on the constant drama his career has endured this past year and delves headfirst into the Sachs scandal to reveal his side of the story. Armed with a list of death threats and people’s comments from the Times Online, Brand sends the crowd into cascades of laughter as he reads out suggestions for his punishment that include being put on the Sex Offenders Registry and being sent to Afghanistan to ‘meet real men’.

Brand also touches on his stint as the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards host, and treats the crowd to a condensed performance of the original script he intended for the award show before scrapping it due to too many offensive jokes. With another list on hand, this time of emails from American viewers, Brand is berated and told to stay out of the States and go back home.

Although the British comedian receives much flak for ‘unacceptable’ and ‘offensive’ behaviour, it seems that Russell Brand and trouble are set to go hand in hand for the foreseeable future; but it’s clear that the more criticism he receives, the more material he has, which in turn means a lot more of Brand’s priceless comedy for us to look forward to.

PUBLISHED IN TIME OUT LONDON