How Not to Work & Claim Benefits: (and Other Useful Information for Wasters) (2016) User Reviews

The Lebowski Club

[blumdeluxe · 6/10 · 29 March 2017]

What do you get when you take two film classics and mix them? That's the question that "How not to work & claim benefits..." answers. It tells us the story of two, mostly drunk, Englishmen, that are out of the blue provided with a decent amount of money and the odyssey that estimates from it.

All in all it's like taking "The Big Lebowksi" and his ever drunk, non-caring protagonists and letting them live through a "Fight Club"-ish experience. If you've seen the movie you'll get what I mean.. Fortuantely,both these movies are brilliantly entertaining and so a mixture of both can't mess up, so indeed this film is very easy to watch. I liked how it ended and I liked as well the chain of coincidences and bizarre situations that unfolds in front of the audience. Sometimes the humor was a bit flat and obvious but that didn't disturb me too much.

Summarizing, you can argue that this movie is not the most creative cause it takes over concepts that have already proved successful in the world of cinema. Nevertheless, there are far worse attempts to create something alike and I do like the film in a way, so I guess that a mid-rating is fair enough.

Better than you might think.

[goatboy-43868 · 7/10 · 28 December 2019]

Don't expect amazing acting or great special effects from this movie. It's just a good story, well told with a few surprises and is often very funny. I loved it and could identify with the characters. And it was made for no money ( there's a documentary that explains all) It just shows if you have a good script you can make a decent movie , and this is a more than decent movie.

Unexpectedly moving and thought-provoking

[ExiledRoyal · 9/10 · 1 April 2017]

In order not to spoil this for the uninitiated viewer I won't reveal the story in its entirety.

However, it begins like a cross between 'Withnail and I' and 'Men Behaving Badly'. The acting and script are simple, but actually suit the type of relationship between the two main protagonists, Mike and Dave.

The plot is also simple to follow, at least in the first half of the film.

Those of a serious, or sensitive, disposition may be put off by the puerile humour and pretty base language.

But stick with it. If the first half is simply entertaining, the second half will reveal itself as deeply moving. Not only does it tie up the loose ends in a satisfying way, but it left me, as any heart-felt human story does, very thoughtful and touched by what I had seen.

Buy with confidence. It may be low-budget and lacking explosions, but it sure makes up for it by getting right under your skin by the end.

An unbelievably brilliant movie

[christinemarianhearn · 9/10 · 27 August 2018]

I watched this because I do like a good indie movie. This is a film of utter genius, and probably cost less than £500.

Not going to give a spoiler but just want to say that this was so off beat, so funny, so moving, so well acted, that it became inspirational.

Hilariously disturbing

[MrAlanChristoph · 10/10 · 12 May 2018]

It's literally the Donnie Darko version of the British slapstick sitcom TV series Bottom only the title character narrates the throughout the film just like in Fight Club.

If you've watched the Bottom TV series and liked the films Donnie Darko and Fight Club then you'll definitely love this.

You're never alone with Schizophrenia.

Je ne sais quoi

[Phil_Chester · 11 June 2018]

This is a real surprise. It's almost certainly not what you think it is. It's definitely not a comedy, and it is long and slow, but also charming and engrossing in a "Je ne sais quoi" way. Odd, yet quite remarkable, and probably worth a look if you like your films indie and genuinely quirky.

How Not to Work & Claim Benefits review

[JoeytheBrit · 8/10 · 18 April 2020]

A pair of wasters accept £10,000 to carry out an assignment, the details of which neither of them can recall. How Not to Work starts out as the kind of comedy that will turn off a lot of people. The humour, centred around a pair of alcoholic layabouts, is foul-mouthed and infantile and not particularly funny. But something happens midway through that brutally wrenches the film in an entirely different direction to the one in which it was headed, and you realise that you're watching a movie about an entirely different subject to the one you thought you were. This sudden change of tone should be jarring, but is actually handled quite brilliantly by writer, director and star Patrick McConnell who manages to give the audience an insight into a hugely complex subject with which it Is far less familiar than it probably believes. Reviewing the film is difficult without giving away key plot points which will effectively spoil the movie for you, so just take my word for it: sit through the early material (which some might find offensive) and you'll be rewarded with a highly original twist that gives the film a whole new complexion.