Tinsel Town

Directed by Chris Foggin, Tinsel Town follows a Hollywood action star (Kiefer Sutherland’s Bradley Mack) as he reluctantly accepts a stage role in a small British town – with complications ensuing after Bradley discovers the play is a larger-than-life (and geared-to-small-children) pantomime. It’s an appealing premise that’s employed to basically watchable (yet entirely forgettable) effect by Foggin, as the filmmaker, armed with a screenplay by Piers Ashworth, Adam Brown, and Frazer Flintham, delivers a padded-out comedy that suffers from a complete lack of style and recurring emphasis on egregiously broad performances – with, in terms of the latter, Foggin’s baffling decision to elicit relentlessly over-the-top work from his various performers lending the proceedings a decidedly amateurish vibe. It’s clear, then, that Tinsel Town‘s extremely mild success is due to Sutherland’s committed efforts and a small smattering of funny moments, which, when coupled with an agreeably rousing climactic stretch, ultimately confirms the picture’s place as a passable bit of holiday-friendly entertainment.

**1/2 out of ****