Eric & Ernie

2011
8| 1h30m| en
Details

Single drama telling the story of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise's formative years, from child stars to national treasures. 'Big head, short legs' is Eric Bartholomew's first impression of Ernie Wiseman, but their friendship endures and, encouraged by his well-meaning but determined mother Sadie, Eric became the funny man to Ernie's 'feed'. After a successful stint in children's variety, they work their way up the ladder of live performance, but after a disastrous television debut in the series Running Wild, Morecambe and Wise learn to trust their own instincts and just make people laugh.

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Reviews

Scanialara You won't be disappointed!
Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.
Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
nekosensei Morecambe and Wise aren't part of my cultural heritage (I guess the equivalent comedy team in my childhood would be Wayne and Shuster) but I had no trouble enjoying this without reference to the originals. Of course comedy is very time and place specific so it's virtually impossible to actually BE funny while playing funny people from another place and time. But Daniel Rigby and Bryan Dick radiate so much charm and energy as Eric and Ernie that I can easily imagine them becoming big stars.It must have been the sequence in the burlesque theater that made me think of "Gypsy." There are certainly parallels between these two dramatizations of the early lives of stars and their stage mothers. Victoria Wood was casting herself very much against type as Mama Sadie, bullying and manipulating her son Eric into a stage career he never wanted. Now I'm thinking of Imelda Staunton's Mama Rose, which captured the monstrous ambition of the character without her seductive charm (I'm sorry but there is no way in hell that Staunton could ever been seen to have made a damn good stripper.) Wood herself would have been terribly cast as Rose--she was a crooner, not a belter. But her own warm, vulnerable persona radiates through Sadie's ruthlessness, and her version of "Rose's Turn"--weeping quietly after Eric and Ernie have informed her they've hired a proper manager and packed her off into a first-class train carriage home--is just as touching as Wood meant it to be.
l_rawjalaurence Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise were for decades Britain's best-loved comedy duo. From humble beginnings in the last years of variety, they worked their way up through the theater, then on to television, radio and stardom. Jonny Campbell's biodrama contains two remarkable impersonations of the two comedians from Daniel Rigby (as Morecambe) and Bryan Dick (as Wise). They have both the vocal and physical mannerisms spot-on, and make an admirable double-act in their own right. As a piece of drama, however, ERIC & ERNIE founders on its clichés; during the wartime sequences, we have to hear snatches of Winston Churchill and King George VI speaking, complete with the obligatory air-raid siren; in the variety theaters where the comedy due ply their trade, there has to be the smoke-filled dressing-rooms and the fat theater manager (Ted Robbins) smoking a cigar. And don't forget the extracts from the classic backstage musical from 1933 - FORTY-SECOND STREET. And to cap it all, we have Victoria Wood playing Eric Morecambe's mother as a dominant figure incorporating every single stereotype about the Northern English woman, complete with full-strength cigarette hanging from the side of her mouth. She washes the front steps of a house, makes Sunday lunch and bosses her hapless husband George (Jim Moir aka Vic Reeves) around. The quintessential Nora Batty-type figure (from Roy Clarke's LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE), all she lacks are the cheap stockings and the pinafore permanently strapped round her waist. It's a shame that such potentially suggestive material should have been approached in so slipshod a manner; there was ample opportunity for the director and production team to recreate the world of the last days of variety, in which touring acts toured Britain to unappreciative audiences, most of whom were more interested in the nudes that often came on between the comedy acts.
jc-osms I'm of that generation that religiously waited for and watched Morecambe and Wise's usually superb BBC TV specials in the mid 70's when they were at their peak (although nowhere near enough credit is given to their writer Eddie Braben) and so was very interested to watch this dramatisation of their formative years.It has to be said that their old employer does them proud with a well written, produced and acted TV movie. In truth I could find little to fault in it, my only complaints being perhaps the limited dynamic arc in the story itself and a little too much screen-time for the inspiration behind the project, Victoria Walters. That's not to say she's not good in the part of Eric's pushy, typical show-biz mother, but she takes too much focus away from our heroes, to the, as I say, slight detriment of the piece.The other main casting credits work very well, with Jim (Vic Reeves) Moir a revelation as Eric's docile dad and the young actors playing Eric and Ern as spot on as they could be with look, voice and mannerisms. They have that essential ingredient for any double-act, chemistry. The script includes some decent gags, but enough of what really matters here, drama, to make it entertaining.The duo's well-known personae are developed naturally and enough signposts are inserted to their future routines and catch-phrases to please admirers of their later work. As I indicated, this wasn't the most essential show-biz bio-pic I've ever watched but it was amongst the more entertaining of them.What did I think of it (so far)? Definitely not "Rubbish!"
TheLittleSongbird I absolutely loved Eric and Ernie, for me it was one of the best programmes over the festive season. Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise are an unforgettable comedy duo and never fail to make me laugh or cheer me up. Eric and Ernie is a funny and affectionate tribute, and is close to perfection. The only reason why it isn't quite is that I agree it was a little too short. That said, visually Eric and Ernie is lovingly crafted and accurate, while the music is beautiful. The script is in my view superb, Peter Bowker(who also penned the script for the unforgettable Occupation) has a real talent for writing dialogue, the story is beautifully structured and never less than immensely engaging and the chemistry between Eric and Ernie was a joy as well as their antics and routines. The drama is also wonderfully directed, and there is never a dull moment. The acting hits the nail right on the head, Daniel Rigby and Bryan Dick are both brilliant and the supporting cast with Vic Reeves, Victoria Wood and Reece Sheersmith are stellar. Overall, Eric and Ernie was brilliant, you can tell a lot of work and care went into this, and I am just amazed it turned out so well. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox

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