Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
(2005)
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Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
(2005)
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| Watch Trailer 0Share... |
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Steve Coogan | ... | ||
| Rob Brydon | ... | ||
| Keeley Hawes | ... |
Elizabeth /
Keeley Hawes
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| Shirley Henderson | ... |
Susannah
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Raymond Waring | ... |
Trim
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Conal Murphy | ... | |
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Joe Williams | ... | |
| Paul Kynman | ... |
Obadiah
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Mark Tandy | ... |
London Doctor
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| Mary Healey | ... |
Midwife
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| Dylan Moran | ... |
Dr. Slop
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| Jack Shepherd | ... |
Surgeon
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| David Walliams | ... |
Parson
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| Jeremy Northam | ... |
Mark
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| Benedict Wong | ... |
Ed
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Two actors, as their make up is applied, talk about the size of their parts. Then into the film: Laurence Sterne's unfilmable novel, Tristram Shandy, a fictive autobiography wherein the narrator, interrupted constantly, takes the entire story to be born. The film tracks between "Shandy" and behind the scenes. Size matters: parts, egos, shoes, noses. The lead's girlfriend, with their infant son, is up from London for the night, wanting sex; interruptions are constant. Scenes are shot, re-shot, and discarded. The purpose of the project is elusive. Fathers and sons; men and women; cocks and bulls. Life is amorphous, too full and too rich to be captured in one narrative. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
Smart, funny, original. I just saw this at the Toronto Film Festival tonight, and was really impressed. Great and hilarious performances, especially by Steve Coogan, who is SO funny. But Rob Brydon is almost as great, and the two of them have a great rapport.
The film really captures the anarchistic spirit of the book. Hard to imagine that anyone could come up with an idea to bring this unusual book to the screen, and Michael Winterbottom hasn't been the most consistent of directors lately (or ever, really) but this is a winner. The story is told in several layers: a film is being made of the novel "Tristram Shandy", starring Steve Coogan as both Tristram and his father Walter Shandy, but the behind the scenes drama of the making of the film is an important component. And lots of parallels with the various players real lives (Steve Coogan and lap dancers, etc.) Incredibly clever. Definitely check it out.