Review of Churchill The Hollywood Years

Introduction

Here it is then. The latest product of the much laughed about and sadly often laughable British Film Industry. This time it`s the turn of legendary (in some circles at least) 1980s writer, producer, actor and director Peter Richardson, responsible for much of the best of Channel 4`s early output in the form of "Comic Strip Presents".

Churchill: the Hollywood Years gets its title from the underlying plot of the film, which is that Churchill was really an American soldier who won the war on his own, and what the British saw was an actor designed to give us confidence in our leaders. This is a comedy, but you can imagine pitching it to certain US studios as a factual drama. Someone would buy it!

US Marine Winston Churchill is played by Christian Slater, and he must overcome dodgy British Lords, Hitler and the Royal Family to win the war. Also appearing here are Antony Sher, Miranda Richardson, Neve Campbell, Harry Enfield, Leslie Phillips, Vic & Bob, James Dreyfuss and other British comedy stars.

Video

A 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer greets us on this disc. Being a very recent film there`s not much wrong with the transfer, but sometimes it`s hard to tell if the way it looks is intentional or not (there`s a distinct lack of sharpness at various points in the film). I still can`t make up my mind, so let`s give them the benefit of the doubt and say that it was done for authenticity.

The locations used here all look excellent and wouldn`t look out of place in a serious film, with the possible exception of the so-called East End.

Audio

A DD5.1 soundtrack, again as you would expect for a modern film. It`s not exactly groundbreaking, and your speakers don`t really have to flex their muscles that much. There are some nice atmospherics from time to time, and a few action set pieces to bring a bit of action to your ears, but this is only a just above average effort all round.

Features

A nice little bunch of extras help to make up for the fact that the main feature is only 80 minutes long.

First up is a commentary track featuring Peter Richardson and Christian Slater. They have plenty of stuff to say throughout the film, and there are some nice funny bits along the way, as well as some factual information about the film and the production process. Certainly not a bad effort as commentary tracks go, but your enjoyment will be tempered by your enjoyment of the film.

"Behind the Scenes" contains a few interviews and deleted scenes, and is actually a bit better than the usual PR fluff that makes up these kind of features.

"The Amazing True Story" is a mini-film in itself, mixing deleted scenes and extra footage to tell the story of the film in a more documentary style and much quicker.

Next up we have some amusing out-takes, and a reasonable selection of deleted scenes (unsurprising given the short running time of the main feature - loads must have been trimmed). There`s also alternate opening and closing scenes which bookend the film in a different light. You can view all of these with the optional commentary.

The ever-present trailers and TV spots close out this set of extras.

Conclusion

Being a massive fan of The Comic Strip I had high hopes for this film and really wanted to like it. But I didn`t. It`s a mess. It feels like it`s stuck between an overly long Comic Strip episode and a real film. The 80 minute running time seems too short for a film, and surely we can do better than grabbing cheap laughs from dodgy old Nazi stereotypes these days?

Miranda Richardson`s turn as Eva Braun is excellent - she is a fantastic and under-used talent. But balance that with James Dreyfuss camping it up as a hairdresser and Phil Cornwell`s Michael Caine style Nazi and the film suddenly feels much less than the sum of its parts. There are some interesting ideas playing out in the background (a young man-eating Princess Margaret), but the foreground action tends to spoil those (Harry Enfield playing his own dad again with his slightly mad King act).

There are some other funny moments but I expected more from the man behind Five Go Mad in Dorset, Five Go Mad on Mescalin, The Strike, The Yob and GLC. It`s not as if Richardson is new to the big screen either, he started out in 1985 with The Supergrass (still a favourite of mine, and part of my DVD collection). The basic premise of mocking all those Hollywood films that change history is great, it`s just the execution that lets the film down.

The film may not be that great, but the DVD is good, with good picture and sound and a well rounded set of extras. However, this one is very much rental only as I can`t see that many wanting to keep it. A shame, but it`s just not what it should have been.