Mindhorn (2016)

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Director: Sean Foley

Writers: Julian Barratt & Simon Farnaby, based on an original idea by Simon Farnaby

Stars: Julian Barratt, Russell Tovey, Simon Farnaby, Essie Davis, Steve Coogan, Richard McCabe, Kenneth Branagh



A washed-up actor (Julian Barratt) whose claim to fame is starring in a popular 80s cop show gets involved in the pursuit of a murderer (Russell Tovey) who believes his character is real. 



This is a pretty funny movie filled with the kind of British cringe-inducing skewering of the unjustifiably arrogant that was perfected in The Office. 



Every joke has a dark shadow as we watch this man, whose seemingly high opinion of himself serves as a defense mechanism to prevent him from having to face how irrelevant he has become, gets his self-esteem beaten down again and again. 



It actually becomes a rather depressing exercise at some point, which prevents the film from becoming anything like a laugh riot.

 


The plot was a bit too complicated for my taste.

 


Kenneth Branagh has a fun cameo appearance as himself.













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