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In the Bleak Midwinter (1995)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997
Kenneth Branagh descends from the lofty heights of Hollywood excess to deliver a slight but amusing comedy of desperate thespians. Joe (Michael Maloney) is a typical unemployed actor who often comes close to the big break but somehow misses it, despite his pushy agent (Joan Collins). This lack of success persuades Joe to stage his own small play using just a few actors and no money, against the advice of his agent, with the idea of restoring his artistic integrity. Hosting auditions for the play, which will be Hamlet, a weird and wonderful array of people pass before his eyes. Some sing, others talk with glove puppets and the rest seem to be failed actors; from these Joe picks out the least awful!

This bunch of eccentrics are eventually taken to a village called Hope, where the aim is to save a church which has been bought up by a developer (this is Joe's home village). The assembled thespians cover the whole spectrum of stereotypes - the moaning old git (Richard Briers), the uptight meditator (Nick Farrell), the camp luvvie (John Sessions) and further drunken, scatty and stressed darlings. At first, the rehearsals are a disaster as everyone argues, does their own thing and complains about their part. Most of the action takes place in the church as Joe tries to massage the play into shape, just in time for a Christmas Eve opening. Finally, however, Joe snaps under the weight of problems and announces that he's closing everything down.

As is usual in this strangers-meet-and-bond type of story the group members suddenly realise how much they mean to each other and fight to save Hamlet. Joe relents when, the next morning, they rehearse the whole play and it's (suddenly) perfect! Now that they all have a single purpose the idiosyncracies of each other seem less important (we learn about the past of each character in a series of intimate vignettes) and the show must go on. Of course, life is never that easy and there are numerous pitfalls and surprises before the opening night comes around.

The strengths and weaknesses of this film are tightly bound together and centre on the fact that all we really have is a bunch of actors over-acting. The story has been related many times before (such as with the recent Living in Oblivion) and, as such, is extremely predictable. However, the script is generally very amusing and we warm to the characters as we begin to understand them and see how they interact. Although the acting is nothing special individually, as an ensemble the cheerful spirit of poking fun at theatre is quite infectious and genuinely accurate. Branagh has managed to put together a movie (much like Peter's Friends) which takes an ironic look at a few people and their relationships, making a pleasant change from all-action block-busters.

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