Mindhorn

2016 "It's truth time!"
6.3| 1h29m| R| en
Details

A washed up actor best known for playing the title character in the 1980s detective show "Mindhorn" must work with the police when a serial killer says that he will only speak with Detective Mindhorn, whom he believes to be real.

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Reviews

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype
Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Marc Bolton Laughed out loud a few times watching Mindhorn! Julian Barratt is on top form, ably supported by a cracking cast. It's very British, it's very funny and it's well worth a watch. Ignore the naysayers and give it a try - you'll be very glad you did!
Pjtaylor-96-138044 'Mindhorn (2017)' is pretty much consistently chuckle-worthy and the almost meta satire is on-point, especially in an early glimpse into the eponymous television show that haunts the protagonist as his only legacy - a typically cheesy detective show with a schlocky sci-fi central conceit. It's the cocksure lead character's chance to re-live his 'glory days' that allows him to see they perhaps weren't all that great to begin with. Barratt plays the part with self-assured gusto and throws everything into it, even though most of the gags are inevitably on him, and the rest of the players do a good job of keeping an ostentatious streak alive throughout the piece. The failings of the picture arrive in its plot, though, which is hackneyed, under-cooked and often side-lined for the characters' smugly silly antics. The flick also ends so abruptly (almost mid-sentence) that it leaves you wondering if a couple of scenes were accidentally left on the cutting room floor. 6/10
Dan Harden British comedy has almost become extinct in cinema. Sure it's all over British TV and stars like Ricky Gervais, James Corden and Sacha Baron Cohen have broken out into Hollywood, but traditional, truly independent British comedy films are few and far between... Or they just haven't been showing at my local cinema, but I like to think I'm right in saying British comedy has found a home on television. Mindhorn is a traditional British comedy that sadly offers absolutely nothing new, funny or particularly interesting, to the comedy genre.The film opens with a mockumentary of the making of a B movie styled 80's show. This direction taken by director Sean Foley is, in my opinion, the highlight of the film and I would have preferred the film to adopt this style for the rest of its run time, thus making Mindhorn extremely unique. Unfortunately this style is taken only to provide context for the rest of the film, which is a shame as this film could have really had some potential. As well as the films start, Julian Barrett and Russell Tovey's performances carry the film and are the reason any of the jokes come off as somewhat amusing... Well for me at least.This film is a comedy, so the big question is "Is Mindhorn funny?" Now personally, I did not find Mindhorn funny, the film may make you smile a couple times and maybe exhale-out-the-nose-laugh once, but ultimately the film isn't very funny and this is down to the traditional nature of the film and the fact that the jokes aren't original. This film will however please older, more traditional audiences who find comedies like 'Allo 'Allo! and Only Fools and Horses hilarious after the 30th repeat on Gold. For me though, more or less every joke is a British comedy cliché and I am thus desensitised to Mindhorn's many attempts at humour. The film does have some clever and original jokes but you can count them on one hand. For the most part, Mindhorn takes a tried and tested formula and uses it. It's just unfortunate that this formula only really works for a small audience in the world.To conclude, Mindhorn is a very traditional, very British, very unoriginal comedy film. Julian Barrett and Russell Tovey display good acting and the opening sequence offers an interesting style that is unfortunately not continued. If you enjoy traditional British comedy and find that the same old jokes crack you up every time, then you will enjoy Mindhorn. But if you are like me and look for something a bit different, original and outside the box, then Mindhorn is probably not the film for you. It's truth time, and the truth is Mindhorn isn't good.
alangmcw-850-641963 Well I enjoyed this movie from start to finish. It probably isn't for everyone, e.g. if you are too old or too young or from another planet. But if you remember British cop dramas from the 70s and 80s – with a bit of Starsky and Hutch thrown in (and if you have a sense of humour) then you should find some real laugh-out-loud moments here. I found it great, light-hearted, rather slapstick fun, and I will enjoy seeing this again some day.