User Reviews

After hearing everyone bad mouth this movie, I went into it thinking that it was bad. But I came out thinking that it was good.

The movie really made me think that all you really need in life is your family. You dont need everything else everyone has. You only need what you have to live.

This portrait of a deadbeat family is much more touching than I expected. Complaints that it crosses "genres" seem to me to be pointless. Its weakness is the plot...its strength is the pairing of Lee Evans and Kathy Burke; I have always that one of the strengths of Evans' loveable-nitwit stand-up routine is the charge of anger which runs through it. In The Martins he gives the anger free rein with scary effect. On the other hand, are we to believe in a man who can tie up two old people and leave them, for all he knows, to die of thirst and hunger in a cellar, yet will not raise a hand to defend himself against his righteously angry wife? It doesn't quite add up. But it's a really enjoyable and moving film with a life-affirming message, brought home most strongly in the wonderful childbirth scene. At least this movie challenges us to think about how little value we attach to people whom we perceive as too poor, stupid or ugly to be noticed.

Robert Martin is unemployed, a bit of a geezer and always on the scrounge – whether it be benefits or entering every competition he sees. When he loses out on a dream holiday he believes he is due, he flips out and uses a mate's gun to get a bit of respect from those he feels have wronged him just because of who he is. While the police follow up a series of bizarre reports of gun crime involving a Chav, Robert also finds out that a mate is coming out of prison with the knowledge that Robert slept with his wife. The pressure to get any holiday and get out of town with his dysfunctional family gets to him.

Although it goes to extremes with the plot, this film is still an enjoyable look at a typically Chav family where you can hardly see the people past the shouting, drinking and generally antisocial behaviour. Grounds' script works well because he doesn't try to make us like them (because most of the UK don't) but he does enough with them to let us see them in good light and bad – both as products of their environments as well as causing their problems for themselves. This means the drama works well even though it is stretched at points by the action, because it is the characters that we are here for.

As such it is the performances from Evans and Burke that make it work so well. Viewers moaning about how they should be funny and how disappointing the two were have simply missed the point. It is their convincing portrayal of a Chav couple in love that makes it work so well; they allow their characters to be convincingly rough but also give room for believable soul-searching whether it is spoken or just in quiet moments. They work well together and individually. Without the thought the rest of the family are Chav clichés, albeit convincing clichés. The support cast are good enough to judge the couple without it being too heavy handed or judgemental. I can understand why viewers moan and complain about how it isn't funny enough, because they have just listened to the marketing department that pitched this as a trashy comedy, but trust me when I say that the performances drive this film and make it as engaging as it is.

Not the sort of thing that will travel well outside the UK but it is an effective drama that takes a fair and balanced look at a typical Chav family. Yes the plot has to go to extremes to move it all along but it is the characters where the film is and they are worth watching for not only because of how well written they are but also how good the serious work of Evans and Burke is.

This has to rate as one of the worst films I have ever had the misfortune to sit through and on which to waste £5. From the trailers it looked to be quite an amusing comedy, but in reality it's 90 minutes of pure hell. I laughed once, and that was at a rather poor joke of someone vomiting on someone else.

The talents of Lee Evans and Kathy Burke were totally wasted on this second rate drivel. It just wasn't funny.

This film is a great laugh and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I especially loved the slagging match in the car between Mr Martin and his mother-in-law, hilarious! Highly recommended!

Not sure if I was supposed to have some sympathy for the Martin family, but I didn't. There were no redeeming qualities about any of them. From the 14 year old pregnant daughter who admits she's a slag- it's the only thing I'm good at, to the grandmother who seems to want everyone around her to be miserable. I could possibly have some sympathy for the son, except he seems to look up admiringly at his dad who lives off benefits and thinks he's owed more than that.

I love Kathy Burke and Lee Evans, but they just weren't liable in this.

I think the final nail in the coffin was the ending when I just wanted to scream 'Why is he out already?' But that is probably quite realistic.

Lee Evans can act, but in 'The Martins' he fails to reach the standard he achieved in 'Funny Bones' a few years earlier. Kathy Burke is good as his long-suffering wife and the story is decent enough, but Evans somehow doesn't quite hit the target. The other problem is that the film doesn't really look like a proper movie, more like a mid-week light drama of the type produced by ITV in recent years.

Despite starring Lee Evans, Kathy Burke and Linda Bassett this sorry excuse for a film amounts to little more than a criminal waste of celluloid, and British talent.

The plot concerns jobless, scrounger Robert Martin dreams who of winning a dream holiday for his disfunctional suburban family.

When he fails to win a holiday prize in a local newspaper that he thinks he should have Martin (Lee Evans) flips out 'D-Fens' from 'Falling Down' style, and takes extreme measures to try and get the holiday prize he thinks is rightfully is.

Is it a comedy? Is it serious social drama? Neither the director or the cast seem sure, and after watching this movie for half an hour you won't care!

There is the odd laugh to be had, and Kathy Burke does her best to redeem things as the devoted wife who refuses to leave her husband despite him being a louse, but to no avail. Lee Evans character meanwhile is such a scumbag that you'll have little sympathy for him.

3 out of 10 (and I'm probably being generous)

Lee Evans plays the head of the Martin family, Robert in this low-budget Brit 'comedy'. The director and screenwriter, Tony Grounds, manages to squander Evans's Chaplinesque talents, and comedic grossness of the female lead, his wife (played by the talented Kathy Burke) who palyed to great effect in another low-budget Brit movie "This Year's Love".

There are no funny quips, no amusing side-plots and no opportunities for Evans to show off his amazing face-pulling and physical humour which was used so well in the Hollywood 'Mousetrap'.

The screenplay is a mean-spirited view of lower-class life in Hatfield, an innocuous, middle-England new town which is depicted herein as a hot-bed of scum and low-life.

The characters are almost too realistic in that respect, but have no redeeming features or quirks that make them appealing. See, for example Mike Leigh's "Life Is Sweet" starring Alison Steadman for an example of how it can be done successfully.

I have seen Evans live on stage, and I know how good he can be, and how much the UK public adore his self-depreciating candour. He swears a lot as a matter of course, but this film contains at least 20 minutes of "f***ing" out of its 86 minutes running time, and even manages a "c**t" for good measure (written down as well just in case you missed the verbal expletive.)

Highlights of the film: - 14-year old daughter giving birth on the toilet - Lee Evans pulling a gun on his son's teacher and saying 'I hate f****ing teachers' - Lee Evans pulling a gun on an elderly rich couple and saying 'I hate f****ing rich old people' - Lee Evans pulling a gun on a newspaper editor and saying 'I hate f****ing liars' - Lee Evans pulling a gun on his next door neighbour and saying 'I f****ing hate people who look down on me' - Next door neighbour on the other side saying 'You f****ed me last week and I've told my husband' - etc. etc.

Lee has reportedly said that he was looking forward to shedding the mullet hair cut and burning it on the film's completion. I should think he is also looking forward to burning all the prints of the film...

A Smith London UK

Lee Evans puts in a superb performance as Bob Martin in this poignant black comedy, proving his comic talent transfers just as easily to the big screen. Kathy Burke also puts in a flawless performance as his long suffering wife.

The picture tells the story of a family we all know, from any council estate around England, neighbours from hell type stuff, and yet at the same time makes you identify with the plight of the main character as he struggles to make sense of his life.

There are some great visual gags as well as some genuinely funny lines and all the while you feel as though Evans is an almost psychotic who could snap at any moment.

If you liked The Parole Officer, I think you'll like this, although slightly darker, the comedy is on a par with Steve Coogan.

It's just 90 minutes of people yelling at each other.

There was not one joke in this film that made me laugh.

Not one.

If you like the idea of Ray Winstone screaming and burping in a little boy's face, this is the film for you.

The movie tries and fails to be heartwarming too.

It doesn't work because I hate these characters so much.

With a poor script, unfunny jokes and unlikeable characters, it's a mystery of how this film got green-lit.

And Lee Evans and Kathy Burke only did this for dosh.

i thought that although the film maybe a little too small for the cinema along with births deaths and marriages this is a gem i thought the acting superb by all concerned and the small cameo from ray winstone was hilarious people forget what a good comic actor he is . i remember him in GET BACK the tv sitcom also starring a young kate winslet. i like the way tony grounds mixes pathos and bathos in equal measure. just one thing though, does tony grounds have a thing about schoolteachers it seems to have a reccurring themes in most of his work to summarise i would reccommend this more on video than at the cinema but i am sure it will be on tv soon

I didn't have hopes for this at all . Lee Evans is kind of like Jerry Lee Lewis cross bred with Norman Wisdom while Kathy Burke is a good actress but is type cast in roles as council estate scum so a film where they both appear as two down and out losers didn't strike me as a great film

The opening scene opens with Mr Martin looking up at the sun telling his son that this time tomorrow they'll be going on a foreign holiday , the back drop disappears and you realise the characters are standing at a busy motorway junction . It's a clichéd scene but an amusing one . They go home and have a barbecue - By setting a couple of tyres on fire . Again this is very amusing but then everything starts to fall apart as Evans goes OTT and waves a gun around . There's many scenes like this where Evans and Burke and the supporting cast give either very humorous or very moving performances only to ruin it by suddenly spouting expletives , screaming or gurning . One moment you're about to enjoy this film then the next you're holding the remote wondering if it might be a good idea to see what's on the other side

Several people have commentated on the way THE MARTINS changes mood not only between scenes but during scenes too and it's impossible not to notice this . Yeah it's a comedy but what else is it trying to be ? Is it a bizarre romance ? A social drama ? certainly Evans and Burke do their best with the shaky material but writer/director Tony Grounds should have developed his idea a bit more before he shot the movie which is an ironic thing to say considering the number of scenes featuring a gun

Too be honest, this was a horrible movie to watch. It was annoying since this is one of those movies that clearly lacks a purpose and you just don't really known what it is you're watching. Luckilly the movie does get slightly better toward its end, so I'm more or less glad I still finished watching it, since I almost switched it off after its first 15 minutes, something I normally never ever do.

I still don't know if the movie is trying to be a comedy or a serious movie with comical moments in it. Eitherway, it doesn't really work out effectively. Perhaps it's because of the very underwritten script. It doesn't has some good funny moments written in it and it mostly relies on the stereotyped characters being funny, which they just aren't however. As a realistic and honest straight-forward drama the movie works out better but the atmosphere is just way too light for it to truly ever work out effectively. So here we have one messy movie that just ever really work out either way.

The movie is going nowhere really at its start but if you'll survive the first hour relax, the movie will get slightly better after that point. But it's just too little too late, I'm afraid.

4/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

People seem really divided by this film.

The acting is fine and the characters may be real, but they're not the sort of people I want to see on screen ... and especially not in real life. And I'm certainly surprised any of the reviewers here are happy to identify with them. Watching the film, I begin to agree more and more with Aldous Huxley in "Brave New World." This film is full of bad language, features stupid and repulsive people, and is not remotely funny. The basic concept is fine (why my family decided to watch it in the first place), but it's badly-planned, and poorly executed (rather like Grounds' "The Dinner Party" for television).

All four of us (aged 55, 42, 16 and 15) gave up after thirty minutes and didn't want to watch any more.

Despite the slightly misleading trailer, this film is more than just a slapstick comedy, it actually presents some very real and dark human emotions, all be it in very exceptional circumstances. The problem with this however, is that the line between the comedy and drama is slightly blurred, yes it is funny, and yes it is very serious, but the combination of the two don't quite sit together in The Matins, and thats the major problem with this film.

That said, the film is very enjoyable, and also very real in some respects. Far from being over the top, the almost constant swearing is actually quite realistic, I'm sure most people know of a family or friends who seem to do nothing but swear.

So is it any good? I will sit on the fence and say its OK. The acting is fine, the straight visual style is excellent and strangely under used in this MTV generation, and despite the obvious highs and lows throughout, the actual story is quite compelling, if a little over the top.

The Martins is a brilliant little film that although maybe is not as funny as you would hope from a Lee Evans movie is still superb for many other reasons. It is about a man who has been a faliure most of his life but still tries to do the best for his family who he loves very much. Everything he does turns sour , so one day he snaps and does the best for his family whatever the cost maybe. Lee evans and Kathy Burke are fantastic as the parents in this disfunctional family and you feel so much for them. Most people will sympathise with Evans's character even if he does have sex with his neighbour,tie up and steal from an old couple and threaten everyone with a gun!. I thought this was a nice movie that only adds to the growing reputation of the two leading actors .Sit back and enjoy. 8 out of 10.

When I saw this film I had high hopes but honestly I need to have been sponsorsed to watch it, it was so boring I left after an hour just dreadful Lee Evans don't give up your day job

Slammed by the critics, The Martin's never really had a chance. Simple.

However, being a heuge fan of Lee Evans, i went along anyway, and thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the cinema. The Martins has flawless performances throughout, and while being cheap, and to be honest, very badly written, it still provides enough laughs to keep you in your seat.

Lee Evans never gets the opportunity to truly show his comic genius, but does do his job well enough to keep fans entertained. And as British as he is, he really should be given the opportunity to take on some more roles in Hollywood, and be given more screen time than his previous well received efforts, such as in Mouse Hunt, and The Fifth Element. The Martin's is not great, but certainly worth a watch. 5/10.................................................................

GYKO

Woeful, this.

You have two funny British comedians in Lee Evans & Kathy Burke and you... make them act serious? What a waste. Those two try, as do the rest of the cast, but 'The Martins' is kinda awful. That's thanks to poor storytelling and some very unlikeable characters.

At least we have the pleasant Lennie James to watch, albeit in bits and pieces throughout - thankfully he got better roles in the decade or so following this. He is the only positive part of this in my opinion. It's abundantly clear what the film is aiming for, but man does it make a complete hash of the execution.

It only lasts for around 83 minutes... 83 minutes too long, unfortunately.

This was actually a decent, well-structured, emotional film.

Hey, it's not going to win any awards, but it's definitely watchable...and enjoyable.

Sadly, the last 15 minutes are very rushed...and the ending leaves you feeling somewhat flat.

If you're looking for the 'monkey boy' version of Lee Evans, this isn't for you. He does show moments of wackiness, but overall, he mostly plays it straight.

No redeeming features, without doubt the worst film I have seen this year.

I find it hard to put my finger on exactly what makes it so bad. I guess the overall premise of the film is pretty dire to begin with; "Black comedy about a scrounger who decides to steal the tickets for an all-expenses-paid trip to the Isle of Man when he fails to win the holiday sweepstakes." - hardly inspiring stuff.

It's badly written, you can't empathise with any of the characters as they are universally hideous. You can't laugh at it, as none of the attempted jokes (if you can even spot them) are funny.

Other people on here seem to find the film funny. I guess it's a matter of taste, but if you aren't enjoying this film after 10 minutes, don't waste your time, it doesn't get any better. Go and do something else instead.

Had the misfortune of watching this film the other night because my daughter had it on. Challenging to be the worse film I've ever seen. Had seen a little before, by accident but nothing had prepared me for the sheer tragedy that is this film. Trying to be Mike Leigh but falling way short. Patronizing to the working classes, no real story, swearing for the sake of it, characters that had no personality or redeeming features and totally nonsensical conclusion. How Kathy and Lee Evans got involved in this is beyond me. I really can't quite believe how bad it was. Rubbish, total rubbish. Save yourself a couple of hours and avoid.