The All Together

The news that this tawdry British caper comedy was made with an ultra-low budget is more of a relief than a cause for celebration as it comes across like a protracted and painfully unfunny homage to the Marx Brothers sketch from ‘A Night At The Opera’ in which Groucho persists in inviting people into his already-cramped cabin. As misanthropic TV producer Charlie, Martin Freeman reassumes all the tics that won him an army of fans in ‘The Office’ while Danny Dyer pops up playing, well, Danny Dyer, confirming that he wouldn’t know a good script if it struck him over the head with a pool cue. The few laughs come care of Velibor Topic as wacky Bosnian housemate Bob, who harbours a penchant for combining taxidermy and pornography (you do the math). Yet writer-director Gavin Claxton’s grasp on reality is non-existent, with every set-up shrouded in an air of implausibility despite copious amounts of ironic winking to the camera. The monumentally ludicrous conclusion only serves to emphasise what a poorly developed and resiliently stupid piece of work this is.