davejessop-87535

For a start I found the film very boring and using every cliche in the book. I'm a fan of Josh Stewart and he must have been a little embarrassed when he saw the final cut, assuming he even bothered to watch it. The German actor I knew from the inferior remake of Das Boot was very average even though he was meant to be the 'star'. Right, the thing is all the swear words were muted out. Was it my copy that seems to have been lifted from children's mid-afternoon TV? Was it the same for everyone else? Obviously a film aimed at adults should treat the viewer as an adult. Maybe it was just my copy? I'm not sure. This is one film I would not watch again even if they paid me... even with the unmuted naughty words.

Brilliant visual spectacle of a film but reading other reviews shows how times have changed and how it's now cool to say bad things about the British and British Colonialism. Anyway - back to the film - a cast of greats showing absolute bravery in defending a nothing outpost in Southern Africa. Maybe Michael Caine was slightly mis-cast as the upper class officer but does a great job. Stanley Baker great as usual. Nigel Green with the role of his life and, one of my favourites, Patrick Magee as the surgeon. Jack Hawkins as the manic preacher too. Maybe it's not 100% historically accurate but it's a very entertaining film and we should never forget the bravery of this small company of men - it's really a shame that people have to get political in the hope of being trendy in giving this 1* - you should be ashamed of yourselves!

The magic of Ricky Gervais is that every single character is real and has something to say and contribute - The Office, Extras, Derek, Afterlife - the characters were all brilliantly written and must have been very easy to play for the actors. Brent is back - pursuing his dream of being a performer and to make it big. We all know he's rubbish, so does everyone around him - the only person that doesn't know is himself and the pathos is brilliant. Ricky may not be everyone's cup of tea but in Brent he's created one of the greatest characters on TV and there are very few of those about these days - maybe in another 15 years there will be another installment - I really hope so.