Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story

A typically rambling, freewheeling effort from Michael Winterbottom, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story follows a crew of actors and filmmakers as they attempt to adapt Laurence Sterne’s notoriously complex and convoluted novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman for the big screen – with the movie subsequently detailing the many, many problems that crop up along the way. There’s little doubt that Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story opens with a great deal of promise, as Michael Winterbottom kicks off the proceedings with a scene featuring hilarious banter between actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon – with the inevitable segue into the movie within the movie instantly establishing an atmosphere of palpable tedium. Winterbottom, working from Frank Cottrell Boyce’s screenplay, offers up a broadly-played historical comedy that’s lacking in both plot and character development, with the director’s efforts at cultivating a vibe of consistent irreverence reflected in the inclusion of one pointless, disastrously unfunny interlude after another (eg an incompetent physician demonstrates the use of forceps on a piece of fruit). It’s only as the film moves into its present-day midsection that it begins to improve (albeit slightly), as Winterbottom delivers a low-key look at the behind-the-scenes exploits of the various figures involved in the making of the movie – with the inherently compelling atmosphere heightened by several admittedly engrossing episodes (eg Rob worries about acting opposite Gillian Anderson due to his huge crush on the erstwhile X-Files actress). The movie demonstrably runs out of steam somewhere around its halfway mark, however, and there’s little doubt that Winterbottom’s exceedingly lackadaisical sensibilities ultimately prevent Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story from making any real impact on the viewer.

** out of ****