Toby Jones (The Hunger Games), Bill Nighy (Love, Actually), and Michael Gambon (Harry Potter) lead the charge in this movie adaptation of the classic '60s/'70s British sit-com. Co-stars Catherine Zeta-Jones.
It is 1944 and World War II is reaching its climax. The Allies are poised to invade France and finally defeat the German army. But in Walmington-on-Sea, morale amongst the Home Guard is low. A new mission – to patrol the Dover army base – is a great chance to revive spirits and reputation... That is, until glamorous journalist Rose Winters (Zeta-Jones) arrives to write about their exploits, setting the pulses racing and putting the local women on red alert. MI5 then discover a radio signal sent direct to Berlin from Walmington-on-Sea. There’s a spy on the loose and the outcome of the war is suddenly at stake.
I took my elderly mum to the film, and she enjoyed it well enough, but noted, “there’s not much of a story, is there?” And then, the ultimate measure of the older reviewer, “it’s not a patch on the Marigold ones”. Given that the same director, (Oliver Parker) and some of the cast (Nighy) are present, that’s obviously the market this is aimed at. Call it a miss.
Full reviewThe top-notch cast keep calm and carry on, but this TV remake is a waste of everyone’s time.
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Bleakly suggests that even the best source material in the world can only take you so far.
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Fittingly for a film which has a running joke about jam roly poly, this feels like cinematic comfort food.
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It has a strong, game cast but this is karaoke filmmaking, trading on nostalgia rather than breaking new territory. Affable but forgettable.
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