Cheeky (2003) Poster

(2003)

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7/10
David Thewlis Filmography Project
gink1027 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#13 Cheeky

Harry Sankey = The Tragicomic Character

Pros: David's first (and only) film as he writes and directs shows that he has a lot of talent, a real-life story in which we know more about David's personality, embodying Harry, a man who from living a rose-colored life becomes in the blink of an eye a disgrace when his wife dies and this one knowing that his desire was that he appears in a TV contest called precisely Cheeky will make this live situation of the most tragicomic. It is obvious that David made such a film because he has a great appreciation for comedies and black acid humor movies, which I use to emphasize this film. It has a cozy and loving cast: Lesly Sharp (yes, nice reference to Naked) and Eddie Marsan. Perhaps it would be a film that I would advise to see only if you are a fan of him, but Cheeky deserves more attention, a hidden jewel without a doubt.

Cons: Just one, but I think it's a big one, the problem with the whole film is that at any moment it tends to be more comedy or more drama and it's not completely defined at all, and in the end it's neither one nor the other, David tries to make a mixture of the two and finally the film is not as substantial as it could be, in my opinion, I feel that he wanted to make a very careful story and not touch on something insolent because the clear examples of this are several moments of the film such as the plot of the TV show and the creation of the character Trudie Styler, both are great ideas that he embodied in the film but do not fit very well in the script....it could have been something more solid.
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8/10
Touching and subversively funny
wkwhite116 September 2007
David Thewlis' Cheeky is all heart, an extremely touching, human story of a quiet man reeling from the loss of his loving wife and desperate to connect emotionally with their grieving son.

The wounded, gentle Harry may come as a surprise to moviegoers remembering Thewlis' searingly aggressive performance in Mike Leigh's Naked, but in the end it simply illustrates the versatility and range of this brainy actor/writer who always seems to be the best thing in every project he tackles.

That said, it's important to point out that the movie also manages to be flat-out funny. The humor is often subversive, though, much of it hidden in visual business in the background of otherwise serious scenes or throwaway dialog from supporting characters. Thewlis' sense of humor is whimsical, dark and harbors a solid appreciation for the absurd (A Cheeky quiz show question: Homosexual penguins: True or False?).

The supporting cast is delightful, especially Ian Hart as Harry's doltish brother-in-law and Lesley Sharp, who has done such impressive work previously opposite Thewlis in Naked and the television miniseries Dandelion Dead.

The DVD is a European PAL release, but is not region-coded and can be played on DVD players in the U.S. Track it down--it's worthwhile viewing.
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