Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me (2008 TV Movie) User Reviews

Much better than the other reviews claim

[mangos47 · 8/10 · 8 August 2010]

I feel the other reviewers have been unfair in their reviews of this TV film. It received as many stars in the IMDb ratings as Hancock and Joan but not quite as much as the more viewed Steptoe and Hughie Green films in this quartet of dramatic biographies. These ratings are not reflected in the few reviews so far submitted. The film also received a RTS Television Award for Best Production Design.

The reason to see this film is what all reviewers have agreed on and that is the superb acting involved. David Walliams is far better than could be expected as Frankie Howerd whilst Rafe Spall gives his best performance so far as Dennis Heymer. Mention should also be mentioned of the wonderful acting support from Dilys Laye and Melanie Hill as the two mothers who had such a strong influence on the lives of their sons.

I found this film far less predictable, more dramatic and more satisfying than the other three films (listed in the Trivia section). Yes, the film is really about both Frankie Howerd and Dennis Heymer and perhaps should have been called Howerd and Dennis to complement Hancock and Joan. But this was a wise decision on the part of the filmmakers as it would have been too depressing to dwell on Howerd's depressive character when Dennis's love for Howerd and its many trials is where the drama lies. Although the portrait of a difficult relationship I did find myself laughing aloud sometimes, mainly due to Spall's superb performance.

Criticism has been levelled at the fact that the film dwells on Howerd's troubled personal life and not on his pleasant public persona. That is true just as Michael Sheen's Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! dwelt on Williams's dark side but that is not a criticism but a dramatic choice. However it has to be said that gay love and naked gay sex is portrayed unflinchingly and so this film is crucially different to the other three and will not be liked by anyone suffering from homophobia.

Rather Sad Telefilm About the Private Life of a Much-Loved Comedian

[l_rawjalaurence · 7/10 · 15 August 2014]

RATHER YOU THAN ME concentrates on the private life of comedian Frankie Howerd (David Walliams), a closet homosexual at a time when such practices were against the law in Great Britain. He lived what might be described as a 'discreet' existence with Dennis Heymer (Rafe Spall), making sure that they never embraced in public. Peter Harness' drama focuses on Howerd's tortured mental state: the experience of being abused as a child scarred his existence for life, rendering him both fearful yet disgusted with his sexual tendencies. He had a close attachment to his mother (Dilys Laye) who rarely said anything about her son's proclivities, yet was obviously well aware of them. This play concentrates mainly on Howerd's career during the Fifties, when he was one of radio's top comedians, then experienced a period of alarming decline. It was only when Peter Cook (David Reed) asked him to appear for a season at the newly-created Establishment Club that Howerd's career fortunes improved. The experience of failure rendered him even more bitter - forcing Heymer to threaten to leave him more than once. But the two eventually remained together for many years, right up to Howerd's late-flowering fortunes in the Eighties and early Nineties, when he was invited to perform at the Oxford Union. David Walliams gives a creditable performance as Howerd, even though he tends to put his tongue in cheek (literally) a little too much. What makes this drama so engaging are the quality of the supporting characterizations, from Spall's long-suffering Dennis, to Sally Leonard's Jane (Howerd's long-term female companion). A melancholy tale, certainly, but one which emphasizes the difficulties, both mental and physical, experienced by many personalities at a time when they could not reveal their true sexualities in public.

Is that it?

[trevorwomble · 6/10 · 18 July 2023]

I saw this rather dull and odd drama when it was shown 15 years ago on BBC4 and had, unsurprisingly, forgotten all about it. But in 2023 the BBC showed it again and I can see why I had forgotten it.

Frankie Howerd was a British comedy legend, a master raconteur and a complicated man. However very little of what made him popular comes across in this rather boring tv movie. The film seems to be obsessed by his closet homosexuality and relationship with Dennis Haymer. It also finishes in the early 1970s, just as . About twenty years before he died, missing out a large chunk of his later career.

David Walliams may have been a huge fan of Howerd but he gives a strange interpretation of the character, lacking in conviction and a bit bland, whilst Rafe Spall and the late Dilys Laye seem very underused. Out of all the 'comedy greats' season TV movies that were shown on BBC4 in 2008, this is by far the least interesting and adds very little to the Howerd legend. Walliams seems a bit out of his depth too and the dullness of the script really doesn't help. And the way the film ends is what inspired me to say 'Is that it?' as the title of this review, because that genuinely was my reaction.

Beautifully crafted biopic

[hornbys-60213 · 10/10 · 22 November 2019]

This is a wonderful piece that rightly centres Frankie's relationship and his family history. It's isn't a comedy. It's a careful examination of how someone's upbringing informs their choices, and how gay love can be expressed in public and private at this repressive time. Rafe Spall is a revelation.

The Weakest of the Curse of Comedy Quartet

[pauld-witham · 4/10 · 14 April 2008]

After the three excellent preceding entries in this quartet, (Steptoe,Hancock,Hughie Green)this was a considerable disappointment.

I've no complaint with the performances, both David Walliams and Rafe Spall as Howerd & Heymer respectively were on top form. Where Rather You Than Me falls down, as opposed to the three previous entries is it's lacklustre script, which can't make up its mind whether to concentrate on Howerd or Heymer and falls limply between the two.

This cramped production lasting barely sixty minutes, seems more interested in Heymer's uninteresting sex life than exploring Howerd himself. So we are then subjected to scenes of dimly lit homosexual nightclubs and sweaty couplings, whilst Howerd sits morosely at home.

Poor old Frank is made to look so miserable and dull, you wonder how he ever made people laugh at all. Further insight into his character by the writers would have revealed that despite his depressive nature, he could also be humorous and great company as his many friends including Cilla Black and June Whitfield would bare witness to. (Happiness doesn't sell progamme's it seems)

I'm sad to say that Rather You Than Me is a kick in the teeth to a great comic.

Disappointing

[derektrotteresq · 4/10 · 20 July 2008]

This programme only serves as a kick in the backside to the memory of Frankie Howerd. In this he's portrayed as the most boring person to ever walk the face of the planet, albeit via a pretty decent impression by David Walliams. Good actor, crap script.

If you want to see an inaccurate story (I use the term story very loosely) of a comedy legend interlaced with a load of pointless homo-erotic scenes and watch a pretty good impression of Frankie Howard but doing the worlds unfunniest stand up routines then this is for you. Personally I think its an insult to Mr Howerds memory. He may have been a depressive and he may have been homosexual but if you're going to devote an entire show to Just those two aspects of him and exaggerate them massively, at least have the decency to have some sort of story to it.

It starts , plods along and ends. I finished watching it not two minutes ago and couldn't tell you what it was about! Shame really, because Walliams voice and demeanour were perfect, Rafe Spall's acting was excellent, everything else about the film was not.

Good lord, is this movie about Frankie Howerd?

[gregory_quinn · 1/10 · 16 August 2012]

Something only the British could do: turn a national treasure into a boring, kitchen sink subject matter. I agree with what others have said; Raif Spall and David Walliams do a good acting job, but the story is hopelessly lackluster. I recently watched Howerd on some old Michael Parkinson interviews, and there's a day and night difference between what's depicted in this movie and what Howerd was actually like. He came over as an articulate, charming, open person who was remarkably frank (no pun intended). No wonder his sister didn't like this film. My recollection is that Haymer didn't like it either, even though it's essentially about him with Howerd tagged on. This is the sad fate that lies in store for successful Brit comedians: an inaccurate, depressing, posthumous biopic that misrepresents their life as if it were some kind of Greek tragedy that was doomed to failure from the start.

Reasonably interesting at times but mostly fails to provide insight or character due to a poor focus

[bob the moo · 22 June 2008]

Dennis Heymer is working as a waiter when he first meets Frankie Howerd, who is famous but is not having the best period of his career. At first their interactions are little more than homosexual trysts followed by awkwardness and Dennis heading home but with persistence Dennis manages to form a sort of relationship with Howerd. A difficult character to love, this film follows the intimate and professional relationship between the two through personal tragedy and a revival of Howerd's career.

I didn't do it on purpose but my brief plot summary points to the problem with this film in the way that it seems to be more about Dennis than Frankie Howerd and indeed that is how the film seems to play out. Rather than just using Dennis as a narrative device (a "way in" to the character of Howerd) the film puts him as the main character and so for much of it we are following his story rather than Howerd's or, where Howerd does something we get the event not as something that happened but as how it emotionally impacted on Dennis. In terms of general story-telling this is all well and good and I was reasonably interested by it, however in a film that was meant to be about Frankie Howerd it only serves to annoy and detract.

It was a real shame because the other "Curse of Comedy" films had been pretty good and focused on the subjects so I'm not sure why this one managed to miss the mark so badly. In terms of general impression Wailliams does pretty well as Howerd but he falls down in key areas. The main failing I do not think is really his because it is with the character and the material and focus is not there in the making to help him with this. The secondary failing is that Wailliams' Howerd is not funny – and I say this as a fan of the great man. Spall's performance is better but again this may be because the material offered him more to work with. The supporting cast is solid but they cannot make up for the material and focus of delivery.

I was looking forward to Rather You Than Me because I had just watched the really good "Curse of Steptoe" and do like Howerd and I was disappointed that this film seemed more interested in Dennis, leaving Frankie Howerd a secondary character in a film that was meant to be about him.

Frankie Howerd: Rather You Than Me

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 18 July 2023]

Frankie Howerd was a comedian who had his ups and downs but had suprisong longevity.

I remember watching his ITV show as a kid in the early 1980s and my older brother saying straight afterwards that was dire.

By the end of the 80s he was hip with the university student crowd. I think one of his tours was labelled, 'Get your titters out!'This television movie reminds you that the same happened to Howerd in the early 1960s. When he fell in with the emerging comedy crowd such as Peter Cook.

This drama is more about Frankie Howerd (David Walliams) and his secret relationship with long term lover and later manager Dennis Heymer (Rafe Spall.)

They had a discreet relationship at a time when homosexuality was illegal. Even when it was legal Howerd gave an impression that he had a female companion. Then there were those sitcoms such as Up Pompeii where he had a a lecherous eye for the ladies.

Here Howerd is guilty and embarrassed about his homosexuality. Yet he picks up casual young men for sex. Only after he died stories emerged of his predatory behaviour with young men, like wanting massages and getting naked in front of them.

Although sad and melancholy. It was more about Heymer than Howerd when the latter was the star. The other problem was that Walliams is not a strong enough actor to do Howerd justice.

When this drama was made in 2008, Walliams was a big television star. Here he just did not feel like Frankie Howerd to me.