A Cock and Bull Story

Plot

A group of actors and filmmakers set out to adapt an "unfilmable" classic novel -- but find that their own petty concerns get in the way -- in this satirical comedy. Laurence Sterne's 18th century novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman told the story of its priggish title character from the moment of conception onward, with a bevy of digressions, distractions, and unfinished anecdotes. In adapting the work for the screen, director Michael Winterbottom chose to stay true to its anarchic spirit: the film begins as a mostly straightforward adaptation of events in Sterne's writings, and then veers into a tale about the making of the film itself. Steve Coogan plays Tristram Shandy, who narrates his own life story, beginning with his slightly botched birth, overseen by an addled doctor (Dylan Moran) and his reticent father, Walter (also played by Coogan). Constantly quarreling with his battle-scarred brother, Toby (Rob Brydon), Walter Shandy has an epiphany when he holds his newborn son; however, before that moment can occur, the film switches into the present day, where Coogan and Brydon, playing themselves, bicker over costuming and the size of their roles in the film. The rest of the film's crew has their own concerns. Director Mark (Jeremy Northam) is trying to figure out how to secure a big Hollywood star for a supporting role and shoot a battle scene on a budget. The film's brainy production assistant Jennie (Naomie Harris) worries that their adaptation is leaving out the best parts of the book, as she nurses a crush on one of the cast members. All the while, Coogan tries to deflect a tabloid reporter's inquiry into his strip-club escapades, and attempts to pacify the concerns of his wife, Jenny (Kelly MacDonald). Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story had its North American premiere at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Review

For his second faux-documentary collaboration with Steve Coogan in four years, Michael Winterbottom presents perhaps his most ambitious film to date -- a self-reflexive narrative about filming, or the failure to film, a classic bit of literary whimsy whose narrator is not even born for much of his own "autobiography." Not surprisingly, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story takes on the unstructured quality of its source material. This works -- up to a point. Winterbottom ensconces the audience in a delirious array of ironies and conundrums, fits and starts, and minor dramas on the set, but then kind of gives up on the film within the film. Instead, he shifts his second half to an inn where the cast and crew are staying, highlighting their petty squabbles and moments of ugly vanity -- which are supposed to be "real," since certain actors (Coogan, Rob Brydon, Gillian Anderson) are playing "themselves." While this portion is entertaining in its own right, the audience can't help but miss the promise of the first half, in which an adult Shandy narrates his own birth, among other clever bits. After their work together on 24 Hour Party People, Coogan is clearly on board with his director's agenda -- it's quite sporting that he plays himself as an egotistical letch, even allowing "Steve Coogan" to be plagued by a sex scandal. But ultimately, the back-room dealings of movie industry people is not as interesting a goal as Winterbottom set out to achieve, and at its worst, feels a tad self-congratulatory. Of course, this shifting of narrative gears is part of Winterbottom's winking acknowledgement that the novel is, indeed, unfilmable. The director adeptly juggles all these levels of meaning, but after laying some terrific groundwork, Tristram Shandy doesn't have quite the sublime follow through its audience might expect. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast

• Steve Coogan - Tristram Shandy/Walter Shandy/Himself
• Rob Brydon - Toby Shandy/Rob Brydon
• Raymond Waring - Corporal Trim
• Dylan Moran - Dr. Slop/Dylan Moran
• Keeley Hawes - Elizabeth Shandy/Keeley Hawes
• Gillian Anderson - Widow Wadman/Gillian Anderson

Naomie Harris - Jennie; Kelly MacDonald - Jenny; Jeremy Northam - Mark; James Fleet - Simon; Mark Williams - Ingoldsby; Shirley Henderson - Susannah/Shirley Henderson; Ian Hart - Joe; Kieran O'Brien - Gary; Stephen Fry - Patrick Curator/Parson Yorick; Anthony H. Wilson - TV Interviewer; Roger Allam - Adrian; Greg Wise - Greg; Elizabeth Berrington - Debbie; David Walliams - Parson; Benedict Wong - Ed; Ronni Ancona - Anita; Ashley Jensen - Lindsey

Credit

Emma Macdevitt - Art Director, Wendy Brazington - Casting, Anita Overland - Co-producer, Wendy Brazington - Co-producer, Charlotte Walter - Costume Designer, Barrie McCulloch - First Assistant Director, Michael Winterbottom - Director, Peter Christelis - Editor, David M. Thompson - Executive Producer, Kate Ogborn - Executive Producer, Henry Normal - Executive Producer, Tracey Scoffield - Executive Producer, Jeff Abberley - Executive Producer, Julia Blackman - Executive Producer, Marese Langan - Hair Styles, Michael Nyman - Composer (Music Score), Eric Nordgren - Composer (Music Score), Marese Langan - Makeup, John Paul Kelly - Production Designer, Marcel Zyskind - Cinematographer, Andrew Eaton - Producer, Stuart Wilson - Sound/Sound Designer, Gerard Naprous - Stunts Coordinator, Andreas Petrides - Stunts Coordinator, Frank Cottrell Boyce - Screenwriter, Martin Hardy - Screenwriter, Joakim Sundström - Supervising Sound Editor, Nino Rota - Featured Music, Laurence Sterne - Book Author

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