Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Lenny Live and Unleashed (1989)
Director: Andy Harries
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
It takes a truck-load of ego and one hell of a track record to take on 90 minutes of one-person stand-up comedy on the big screen. Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin can do it, and here Lenny Henry fulfils his aspirations to be fourth on the list with relative ease. In the Hackney Empire, Lenny keeps the live audience on their toes with a script devised by himself and his long-standing writing partner Kim Fuller. Tried and tested favourites Delbert Wilkins, Deakus and Theophilus P Wildebeeste are all pulled out of the trunk, as well as a less exposed character, blues singer Hound Dog Smith. Henry has successfully overridden the criticisms of black stereotyping (simply by ignoring the issue), but there's never been any debate over his skills as an impersonator; and here he excels as he miraculously transforms himself into mirror images of Pryor, Murphy and Martin.Author: IA
Cast & crew
Director: Andy Harries
Producer: Andy Harries, Martyn Auty
Cast: Lenny Henry, Robbie Coltrane, Jeff Beck, Clinton Derricks Carroll, Cleveland Watkins, Fred Dread Band full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 97 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now