Who's
In It: Ant McPartlin, Declan Donnelly, Bill Pullman, Harry Dean Stanton, Omid
Djalili, Jimmy Carr, Orson Bean, Morwenna Banks Who Directed It: Johnny
Campbell
Alien
Autopsy unites British television personalities Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly
on screen in their first big-screen adventure. For the benefit of our US reader,
I'll just go into just who these two guys are as many out may not have heard of
the duo.
Ant and Dec as they are known in the UK, started out on British television acting
on the hit BBC show Byker Grove alongside the likes of other talents like Donna
Air (The Big Breakfast) and Jill Halfpenny (Coronation Street). Ant played PJ
and DEC played the character of Duncan, and following their departure from the
show in 1993, they had a number of hits as the pop outfit PJ and Duncan (see what
they did there), with songs like 'Let's Get Ready To Rumble'. From there they
were given their own TV show 'The Ant and DEC Show', which only ran for a year,
but managed to land them their first BAFTA for 'Best Children's Show'. The duo
then presented the kids Saturday morning show from 1998 with Brummie Cat Deeley
and won over a new audience. Following the last SM:TV presented by the pair in
2001, Ant and DEC presented the very first Pop Idol, which featured a certain
Simon Cowell in his first outing as Mr. Nasty. A year later and Ant and DEC took
presenting gigs on the hit reality TV show 'I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here',
which is still running, every year, to this day as too is their foray into Saturday
night primetime TV, 'Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'. Alien Autopsy is
actually their second big-screen outing if you count Love Actually, where they
had a cameo as themselves.
So,
now you know. But what's the movie like?
Well,
it's okay. A rather enjoyable, lighthearted adventure that's neither great nor
grating. The story is actually based on true events, and follows Ray Santilli
(DEC) and his best friend Gary Shoefield (Ant) who accidentally stumble on a piece
of film that shows a depiction of an actual alien autopsy, filmed in New Mexico
in the late 1940's. After agreeing to pay $30,000, which is borrowed by a bad-ass
London gangster, for the piece of historic film, the duo fly it back to the UK,
only to discover that the film has seemingly erased on the journey. So, what do
they do? They can't go back to the gangster to say that there is no film, so they
re-create said autopsy in Gary's sister's London pad. All to much hilarity.
And
it is funny. There are a few laugh out loud moments, and I love the interaction
with Ray's Nan and her dating eighty-year-old Maurice. The plot is however, sometimes
predicable and a little slow in places. Screenwriter William Davies is responsible
for films like Johnny English and the little know 200 film The Guilty. It's not
a hilarious comedy by no means. You will not be rolling in the aisles to this
one I'm afraid. That's not to say that it's not entertaining, because I thought
that it was. It's forgettable stuff, but enjoyable forgettable stuff.
There's
just one problem with the screenplay that I found a bit boggling, and it wasn't
really explained. I couldn't understand why Ray was able to see the footage projected
in Florida, but then just a couple of weeks later in London, the footage was all
but erased? The degradation that the film might have suffered in that barn in
the US is fine, but surely it should still be as viewable in the UK after just
a few days? Minor flaw. Minor flaw, and it didn't detract from me enjoying the
flick.
I loved
the cameos from the likes of comedian Jimmy Carr, Bill Pullman (who plays a Michael
Moore type filmmaker) and surprisingly, Harry Dean Stanton, who plays the veteran
cameraman who captured the original footage, and whom the funny pair buy the footage
from.
As for Ant
and Dec, well, it's a good first big-screen adventure for them. I really do hope
that they venture more into cinema as they are a really likable duo, and no doubt
friends across the water will warm to them too. They are extremely comfortable
in this, the comedy genre and the on-screen chemistry that made them such popular
TV personalities transfers to the big-screen too.
If
you're hungry a good little night out at the movies, and Alien Autopsy is playing,
duck on in for an entertaining little feast. I liked it.
Who's
In It: Ant McPartlin, Declan Donnelly, Bill Pullman, Harry Dean Stanton, Omid
Djalili, Jimmy Carr, Orson Bean, Morwenna Banks
