One out of
Five stars
Running time:
81 mins
Poorly directed, badly written and cripplingly miscast, this is a desperately unfunny comedy that fails on every conceivable level.
What's it all about?
Co-written and directed by Ben Miller, Huge is based on a play by Jez Butterworth and stars Johnny Harris and Noel Clarke (in a curly wig and glasses that make him look exactly like Moss from The IT Crowd) as Warren and Clark, two Morcombe & Wise obsessed would-be comedians who decide to form a comedy double act after Clark drunkenly heckles Warren at a disastrous open-mic night.
That's pretty much it, plot-wise – the hapless pair get several rejections, crash a comedy awards after-party (cue a slew of cameos from Miller's famous comedian friends, though Alexander Armstrong is conspicuous by his absence – perhaps he read the script beforehand?) and then fall out over something or other.
The Bad
Unfortunately, the film has so many problems that it's hard to know where to start. Firstly, for a film about comedians it's horrifically unfunny - Clark's heckles at Warren for example are "Tell us a joke," and a knock-knock gag ("Warren who?"/"Exactly,") when invited up on stage. Secondly, the film doesn't seem to know whether Warren and Clark are actually meant to be any good – they are self-evidently awful but the script never acknowledges that fact.
In addition, the script completely abandons a promising subplot involving Clark's pretty co-worker Cindy (Michelle Ryan, who has a nice moment of chemistry with Clarke) dating their bastard of a boss (Russell Tovey) – incredibly, the characters disappear after the initial set-up and are never seen again. Similarly, a meant-to-be-funny fake-out in the final act of the film doesn't actually make any sense.
The Worse
On top of that, Harris (best known as the psycho pimp from London to Brighton) is badly miscast, because it's impossible to like Warren – in fact, the film might have worked a lot better (in this area, at least) if Harris and Tovey had swapped roles. As it is, Warren seems like he has some sort of personality disorder, while Clark dresses like he's on day release, yet, again, the script never comments on their weirdness and just takes their supposed chemistry, likeability and comedic ability on trust, with disastrous results. Basically, you know you're in trouble when a short cameo by Thandie Newton (as a hard-bitten talent agent) is the best thing in the film.
Worth seeing?
Huge is pretty much unwatchable as it just doesn't work on any conceivable level. One of the worst films of the year.