Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageNasty Neighbours (2000)
Director: Debbie Isitt
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Playwright, stage director and actress Isitt makes her film directing debut with this adaptation of one of her own plays, a tragi-comic tale of jealousy, resentment and rancour in a quiet Middle England cul-de-sac. Tomlinson is magnificent as Mr Peach, both a curtain twitching busybody and a figure of tragedy, crushed by his failure to meet his wife's expectations. Initial distrust of his new neighbours, the brash, abrasive Chapmans (Daniels and Fielding) soon escalates into warfare when, increasingly frustrated and irrational in the face of a failing career and the threat of bankruptcy, Peach begins to hold them personally responsible for everything that's wrong with his life, mounting a one-man vigilante mission to spy on them at all hours. Isitt has an eye for absurdity and an ear for understated comic dialogue, while the actors turn in sound, believable performances. With its curious blend of straight drama and improvised mockumentary (reminiscent of TV's Neighbours at War), the film provides a footnote to television's current fascination with 'real-life' docu-drama. Neither spoof documentary nor conventional drama, however, the film can't quite decide what it wants to be, and the result is somewhat bewildering.Author: WI
Cast & crew
Director: Debbie Isitt
Producer: Christine Alderson
Cast: Ricky Tomlinson, Marion Bailey, Phil Daniels, Rachel Fielding, Hywel Bennett, Dawn Butler, Debbie Isitt full cast
Duration: 88 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Has David Cronenberg turned tame?
Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?
The 10 worst date movies
Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made
Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films
Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas
10 unlikely badboy biopics
Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects
Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing
Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day
Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing
What do you think?
Post your review now