SLIFF 2017 Review – THE HIPPOPOTAMUS

THE HIPPOPOTAMUS screens as part of the 26th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival on Sunday, November 5 at 1 PM at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre. Click HERE for ticket information. It also screens there on Sunday, November 12 at 9:15 PM. Click HERE for ticket information for that day.

From across the pond comes a pitch black comedy set amongst the veddy, veddy upper classes. Proving that Larry David doesn’t have a monopoly in the US as an ill-tempered cranky curmudgeon, celebrated actor/ writer Stephen Fry gives us a most unlikely screen hero, middle-aged failed poet, reviled theatre critic, and “boozehound” Ted Wallace. He’s played with swaggering bravado by Roger Allam, an actor known for his deep baritone, who has amassed a long list of supporting roles (THE QUEEN, THE BOOK THIEF) and now proves that he’s more than ready for a leading role. After being canned from his theatre critic newspaper job (in a very funny sequence he heckles an inept Shakespeare cast, who leap into the audience to physically attack him) he is pleased to be approached by a lovely young woman at his favorite pub. Turns out that she’s the daughter of a former flame, who seems to have been cured of a fatal malady by the healing powers of young David Logan, Ted’s godson. Ted is hired by this woman, Jane, to look into David’s “gift”. And so Ted returns to Swafford Hall and re-unites with eccentric billionaire Michael Logan (Matthew Modine) and his wife Anne (Fiona Shaw). Seems there are other guests, drawn by stories of David’s talents. Flamboyant director Oliver Mills (Tim McInnerny) wants off his meds, while the much-married socialite Valerie Richmonde (Lynn Renee) wants her daughter Clara (Emma Curtis) to shed her plain appearance and blossom into a beauty. Playing sleuth, Wallace is determined to learn the truth, and answer all of Jane’s questions.

Director John Jencks has crafted an entertaining mix of farce and upper-crust mystery. The location work is superb, making the Logan estate a modern-day castle of secrets. But the film works best as a great showcase for this cast. Despite his surly attitude and penchant for the bottle. Allam’s Wallace is a most compelling detective. He’s equal parts W.C. Fields, the late, much missed Christopher Hitchens, Sherlock Holmes, Poirot,and Columbo. He’s given great support by McInnerny as the over-the-top diva, who’s hiding  much sadness over his fading years. And kudos to the lone “Yank” in the cast, Modine as the aloof, self-absorbed master of the mansion. The witty script is full of devastating insults, quick retorts, and some sight gags that truly shock (David’s “laying on of the hands” is unorthodox). Though the title beast is only mentioned in passing, THE HIPPOPOTAMUS is wild wonder full of beastly behavior.