Stephen Fry’s directorial film debut flashes, splashes and dashes along at a riveting pace, swaying to the rhythm that each and every band produce at each and every party featured. While it is a strong movie, being equal parts trivial and sincere – McAvoy’s Simon Balcairn is boastful and arrogant, while Campbell-Moore’s Adam is modest; Emily Mortimer’s Nina and Fenella Woolgar’s Agatha are the antithesis of one another as the partying princesses; the dark tide of the Second World War rears its dark, foreboding head over the electric song-and-dance of the Bright Young Things’ era – the whole piece comes across as fun and frolicking, yet slightly flat.
Much like many a beloved ensemble piece produced either side of the Atlantic, we know – we know – everything is going to be alright in the end. The plotpoints are predictable, occasionally obvious to the point of alarm, and events that boost the narrative all seem a little too convenient. That said, I did enjoy what went on. Taken with a pinch of salt, each break was entertaining enough, each loose end was tied up tighter than a woman to a railtrack, and though the time for our protagonists comes to an end – in the form of WAR (you win some…) – each moves on as best they can. (Just to note: that’s not a spoiler, but more a fact.)
The characterisation of the piece is two parts Downton Abbey to one part Made in Chelsea; while each and every person is dressed head to toe in ‘white tie’, ‘black tie’ or ‘absurd fancy-dress tie’, they all mince about, coked up to the nines whilst throwing out the word “dahhhhling” more often than the word is said by Fry himself casually on QI. That said, none of this discredits the film at all – quite the opposite, in fact. McAvoy, Tennant, Campbell-Moore, Mortimer & Sheen all play their parts excellently, which can arguably be confirmed and shown through the various stratospheric lift-offs all of their careers had after this movie – some exponentially more stratospheric than others (“Dr Who?“/”He played the Prime Minister, Kenneth Williams, Cloughie, David Frost and a vampire or some shit?!”/”Narni-what?“).
As for the older clan…? The taller half of Fry & Laurie has roped in Simon Callow, Jim Broadbent, Dan Ackroyd, Julia McKenzie and even Peter bloody O’Toole in for those roles, so they are – as you’d expect – played with aplomb.
All in all, a decent piece. I did enjoy it, really. I think it’s just been satirised and parodied in various ways a tad too much nowadays, wherein it’s lost some of it’s shine. Nevertheless, a worthy watch.
Play That Funky Music…Old Chap: Surprisingly – or perhaps unsurprisingly, depending on…well, whether you’re interested or not, really – the majority of the soundtrack was a selection of standards, performed by that old “cheeky chic, posed and poised” [sic] character of the era, Noël Coward. The soundtrack was the one thing that really defined in what time the film was set. Nice one, Stephen. Not too shabby.
– TB
reviewtimewithtb 
