#31: BRIAN AND CHARLES

 

Written and starring David Earl and Chris Hayward. Co-starring Louise Brealey and Jamie Michie. Directed by Jim Archer. Running time 90 minutes.

There appear to be three types of British comedy films. 
1. Films based on successful sit-coms.
2. Ealing style comedies.
3. Strange and quirky.

This falls safely into the third category, following as it does lonely eccentric failed Welsh inventor Brian (David Earl) who one day creates a robot out of a washing machine and a mannequin head, called Charles Petrescu (Chris Hayward).

The Pinocchio-like story, presented as a fly-on-the-wall documentary, another staple of British comedies, follows inventor and 'his creation' as their relationship develops, Charles growing from child-like wonder to angry and rebellious teenager in very short order, made worse as Brian begins a gentle romance with another eccentric and lonely inhabitant of the unnamed Welsh village, Hazel (Louise Brealey). As Charles develops, he yearns to explore the world beyond Brian's farm house, which brings conflict and leads to the introduction of the final player in this little saga, nasty bully Eddie (Jamie Michie).

David Earl's Brian comes across as comedian Joe Wilkingson's older more sensitive brother is the focus of this film and its his off-the-wall inventions, Pinecone Bag (a bag covered in pinecones), his man-powered flying grandfather clock, invented so that the local inhabitants of the village will always know what the time is, and his shoe trawl nets for 'you know, shoes', is hilarious. Sadly, we only see a few of these fabulous inventions before we meet Charles and we're left with many unanswered questions, which because this is presented as a documentary, need answering, like how does he finance his life, where has all that electricity gone, what happened to his family, and why is there no authority in his world?

Sadly, this is a film that feels padded, which considering is only 90 minutes long is very disappointing. Too many scenes seem to go on just that little bit too long, establishing shots linger, and questions are left hanging. Similarly, the introduction of an antagonist, bully Eddie also feels like a mistake, he is jarring and unbelievable, an odd thing to say about a film featuring a robot made out of a washing machine, who loves to eat cabbage. But Eddie is a comic book villain, big, mean and violent with an unhinged family who bully the whole village and kidnap Charles giving the film its third act dramatic drive. The film feels too empty, you want more things to happen, small incidents, more of Brian and Charles's life, more colour, more events.

I so wanted to love this film to bits, honestly you could watch Charles dancing, or exploring his world and the gentle burgeoning of love between Brian and Hazel all day and the payoff is worth the trip. I just wish it had more faith in itself and being okay with being a film where nothing happened beyond the relationships of the main characters. 

Charles is an inspired creation, one of the best robots ever to have graced the silver screen and it's an impressive feat that Chris Hayward manages to invest so much emotion into a staggering short range of movements and a single blue eye light.

All that said, this is a charming, good-natured and sweet little film that makes a nice change from the rest of this summer's haul of mega-budget blockbusters. Plus it's a truly British film, Film 4, Lotto funding and the BFI and we should support these films! 

8/10