Magicians
Mitchell and Webb appearing on yet another promotional poster
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Friday, 18, May 2007 03:34
Directed by Andrew O'Connor, out May 18th, starring Robert Webb, David Mitchell, Jessica Stevenson, Darren Boyd, running time 90 mins.
In a nutshell.
Comic double-act du jour are done something of a disservice in a film which will only appeal to their most ardent fans.
What's it all about?
Harry Kane (David Mitchell) and Karl Allen (Robert Webb) are best friends and renowned partners on the magic circuit. Life couldn't be better - until Harry catches Karl in flagrante with his wife (and assistant) backstage. Heeding Karl's entreaty to complete the remainder of their show as if nothing has happened, all seems to be going ok - until the guillotine trick, when things go unfathomably wrong and the unfaithful other half is decapitated by her slightly manic husband.
A four-year hiatus later, an ennui-blighted Harry spots an advert for the 'International Magic Shield' in Jersey, which promises fame and fortune - but only, really, if he can bring himself to bury the hatchet with Karl, whom he has not seen since aforementioned tragic incident. Excruciatingly they agree to give things another shot - but naturally it's far from simple, and several rather meandering rehashes of their feud later it remains to be seen whether they can save themselves, and each other, from a return to professional oblivion. There is little surprise when, at the film's conclusion, things devastatingly turn full circle.
Who's in it?
David Mitchell and Robert Webb need little introduction nowadays - Peep Show's seemingly endless raft of soundbites and male angst has managed to etch them into most minds even if their own sketch show is slightly more hit-and-miss. Failing all else, they stare out from quite a lot of billboards nowadays.
But it's not all about them. well, really it is, but a few other familiar faces turn up along the way. Fans of Spaced will remember Jessica Stephenson, who plays Mitchell's essentially hapless assistant-cum-paramour - and various of the comic duo's Peep Show chums also make appearances, with Peter Capaldi (recently seen in Channel 4 series Skins) particularly noticeable as chair of the judging panel. Steve Edge, prominent in various Peter Kay projects as well as in his one-off Peep Show appearance as a Nazi-sympathising office worker, rocks up as a semi-competent magic man here.
As an example.
"It's like Israel and Palestine entering a magic competition together" - Magicians' groupie marvels at the feuding exiles' shock comeback
"I have achieved wood" - Harry does his best to sound like Peep Show's Mark
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars
Slim to Size Zero. What could, maybe should, have been a triumphant debut on the big screen by Mitchell & Webb - not to mention their writers, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong - never really takes off despite the odd moment that will strike a chord with aficionados of their previous work. It's all a little too low-key to give serious food for thought to those doling out the awards.
So is it any good?
Sadly, not especially. Bain and Armstrong seem to have created characters, and a script, that cannot quite decide whether to stick to Peep Show type or err towards slightly more burlesque kind of humour. A kind of stasis results. The killer lines and shocking moments of existential dread which they kick-started Mitchell and Webb's careers are present in part, and will be appreciated greatly by those who identify that little bit too much with Peep Show's Mark and Jez, but in truth they are few and far between and everything's just a little bit too dry.
Harry and Karl echo Mark and Jez in that - as the film's conclusion devastatingly bears out - they are comically dependent upon each other regardless of the lengths to which one will go to dishonour the other. In itself this is a highly effective trope, but there's little to really sustain it over an hour and a half. Stephenson's mind-alteringly bad attempts to persuade Harry to hire her as his assistant, followed by the inexorable development of their relationship, is both amusing and touching in parts but is the only genuine attempt at any real development of character or background. The sight of Karl telling some home truths to Harry while the latter's body is buried in sand is also a pleasing one. But overall it's all a bit rushed, a bit predictable and a bit dry. The drab and dingy surrounds of the hotel in which much of the action takes place probably don't do much to ameliorate this impression - but such prosaic backdrops haven't always harmed British films.
Mitchell and Webb dominate Peep Show brilliantly; likewise, their own work showcases them in a favourable light. All this is fine for 25-minute slots, but a film requires more depth unless the action backs up and sidetracks from the main characters convincingly. Magicians does not, perhaps running away slightly with the (deserved) hype that has attracted the two chief protagonists of late and convincing itself that the laughs will roll. Perhaps this demonstrates some inexperience on director Andrew O'Connor's part - or perhaps Mitchell and Webb really aren't the men for this kind of thing.
In summary, go and see it if you're into Mitchell and Webb - you'll laugh an acceptable number of times, you'll enjoy the Peep Show character cameos and you'll see further proof of their easy rapport. But a film needs more than this - and if you're new to these two you'd be better served watching series one and two of Peep Show back to back.
6/10
Nick Ames
You can read an exclusive interview with Mitchell and Webb here.