Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story November 8, 2005

TRISTRAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY
DIR Michael Winterbottom; SCR Martin Hardy; PROD Andrew Eaton. UK, 2005, color, 94 min. Rated R.

Born in Lancashire, England, in 1961, director Michael Winterbottom studied film at Bristol University. He began his career in television before successfully moving into film. Extremely prolific, he has directed 13 films in the past 10 years, including 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE and WONDERLAND, and received numerous awards and nominations worldwide. His collaboration with producer Andrew Eaton began in 1994 and together the pair have received British Academy Awards for GO NOW and IN THIS WORLD.

Knowing that Laurence Sterne's wildly discursive 18th century novel Tristram Shandy could never be filmed, maverick director Winterbottom filmed it anyway--or rather, a film about filming a film of it. For a book described by star Steve Coogan as "the postmodern classic which was written before there was any modernism to be post about," there's a certain cockeyed logic to such an approach. And it's hard to quibble with the results: hilariously inventive, witty and anarchic, the film works as a THIS IS SPINAL TAP-style mockumentary, a TOM JONES-flavored literary adaptation, and a behind-the-scenes moviemaking romp ? la Truffaut's DAY FOR NIGHT. Coogan is brilliant in multiple roles as Tristram, Tristram's father, and vain star "Steve Coogan"--who has many of the real star's problems, and a few new ones, too. His comedic counterparts include scene-stealer Rob Brydon; Jeremy Northam as a Winterbottom-like director; Kelly McDonald as Coogan's girlfriend, Jenny; and Naomie Harris as a brainy assistant who may be the only one on set who's actually read the novel. Memorable turns by Gillian Anderson and the incomparable Steven Fry round out what's sure to be one of the most talked-about comedies of the year.