This is Wodehouse film at its best. One cannot cavil at the slight alteration of sequences, etc., because the characters are so finely honed. The problem with filming Wodehouse is that so much of his appeal is his language, and without a narrator the actors, director scriptwriters, etc. seem to lose their nerve and thing they have to mug, or at least give their audience demonstrative signs that what they're doing is supposed to be funny -- which it usually isn't. But the makers of Heavy Weather knew their stuff. The book is closely followed. The actors are all uniformly wonderful. Peter O'Toole is Lord Emsworth. Richard Briers is Galahad Threepwood. And the sincere vapidity of Samuel West so perfectly captured Monty Bodkin's character that he instantly became one of my favorite actors. This was as close to Wodehouse on film as we're likely to get, and I would like to see the entire Blandings Saga done just this way, while O'Toole and Briers are still with us. I would recommend Rupert Everett as Psmith.
Review of Heavy Weather
