LFF - We witness a brilliant 'Cock and Bull Story'

Chris Tilly laughs his way through Steve Coogan's new comedy.

Oct 28 2005

With 'A Cock and Bull Story' Michael Winterbottom attempts to film Laurence Sterne's supposedly unfilmable novel 'The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy'.

However, just as that book eschewed all traditional literary conventions, so Winterbottom's film subverts the very nature of the literary adaptation, playing fast and loose with character, plot and dialogue to produce something quite unique.

The decision to make the film of the novel about making a film of the novel is the project's stroke of genius, with Steve Coogan playing Steve Coogan playing Tristram, and Rob Brydon playing Rob Brydon playing his uncle.

If this all sounds slightly confusing, fear not, as Martin Hardy's brilliant script shifts from period piece to fictitious film set with effortless ease, the book's most memorable scenes rubbing shoulders with a brilliant satire of modern day moviemaking,

It also gives Coogan and Brydon the opportunity to flex their comedic muscles on a grand scale, while the supporting cast, which includes Shirley Henderson, Stephen Fry, Kelly MacDonald, Dylan Moran and Jeremy Northam, has a ball sending both themselves and the industry up.

And while at times the film teeters on the brink of self-indulgence, Winterbottom always manages to reign the production in, resulting in quite the most entertaining film of the fest thus far.

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