The Hippopotamus

source: The Hippopotamus

If you dislike or don't understand British humour, you'll rate this a 1. But if you accept the fact that the Brits are all a bit mad --- I mean,who else could have dreamt up Monty Python? --- you will enjoy it immensely: the totally absurd story, the British prototypes, the brilliantly rich and round use of the English language. Having said that, there was excessive and unnecessary use of the"'f word" If you don't understand British humour, there is no way to explain it.But if you do, you'll love this film and consider it a masterpiece of the genre. l

This a strange one. Adapted from a Stephen Fry novel this film is a hard one to pigeon hole. It starts off as a comedy with some Malcolm Tucker ( The thick of it ) like scenes played brilliantly by Roger Allam it then turns into a stately home farce and ends up being like a detective mystery story. Its the story of a drunken poet and theatre critic who loses his job and then agrees to investigate goings on at Swafford Manor where so called miracles are being performed. I enjoyed the performances in this especially from Roger Allam but the film itself left me a little cold probably because I couldn't really relate to the people in it plus it was a little too high brow for my liking. As soon a poetry is mentioned , which it is several times , I tend to glaze over and lose interest. If you are into the old Agatha Christie movies I can see how this might appeal but it wasn't for me.

A drunk, washed-up poet is hired to solve a family mystery. The main character is a highly literate pompous old fellow struggling with his own existence. A lot of the comedy comes from him insulting people using very long words, which I found very amusing. There is not a lot to this movie. Don't expect dramatic plot twists, edge of the seat action, moving performances or fire works of any kind. But this film achieves what it sets out to do perfectly! This film is gentle, interesting, funny and quite refreshing. This is definitely a Sunday afternoon watch, but for that time slot it is perfect! Production, acting, script are all exceptional! This film hasn't tried to reach too far and it pays off dividends. Watch this after your Sunday roast with a drink for a perfect afternoon.

I liked this movie. Though there isn't any laughs nor does this movie creates any suspense but after 15 minutes into the movie you kind of hooked to know what's it really all about. Acting wise the Ted Wallace (Roger Allam) character does a reasonable job and kind of carries the whole movie on his shoulder. The voice over might not appeal to everyone but i think it gives us the perspective of the main character and what's on his mind. Overall the movie is not that bad, if you want to pass an hour and a half then sit, clear your mind and enjoy.

Not trying to bash Stephen here. Love the guy. Amazing writer. I'm 16 and I recently watched this with my parents and 13 year old brother. 15 rated films are normally at the right level of inappropriate yet comfortable for us all to watch and enjoy together. However, although this film was very funny, the narration was thoroughly entertaining and even the story was clever and engaging, it was just slightly disturbing. My parents checked the parent notes before watching and I have to say, they really didn't prepare us for the endeavour to come. Nevertheless we laughed along and just discussed that parts were not to be spoken about outside our front room. I would say DO NOT WATCH THIS WITH KIDS UNDER 15 OR 16. Also it uses the c word like 3 times just an fyi.

Unfortunately, the movie is a far cry from the novel it is based on. The novel itself is pure genius. That said, The Hippopotamus is still an entertaining movie. Witty British humor combined with a clever plot, amusing characters top with a superb performance by the leading actor Roger Allam. I highly recommend this movie, but do yourself a favor and read the book, or better yet, listen to the Audiobook narrated by Stephan Fry himself - pure enjoyment. If your intellect is a little above an average movie that does not make a sense if you can understand humor and not just silly jokes, then you'll enjoy this movie.

The Hippopotamus is based on a novel written by our local boy Stephen Fry, and that should tell you a lot about it, but it probably won't. The story is of Ted Wallace (Roger Allam), an old poet, brilliant despite his toxic personality and propensity for whisky. Fired from his job as theater critic, he meets an old acquaintance who proposes him an unusual job, to investigate the mysterious going-ons at an estate of a family he used to be friends with .. before he destroyed their relationship in a drunken fit. And Ted sets out to do his Teddish usual, but, being the perceptive soul he is, and fundamentally still a good man, he lays off the booze and unravels the mystery of Swifton Hall. The film is structured in the manner of the old Poirot films, with less focus on the mystery, and more on the interaction between the characters, and more importantly, class conflict, of which the film ... well, has some. The Hippopotamus is not a great film, i won't lie to you. It was a bad choice to pick this particular novel for the adaptation, because the story isn't really interesting and there aren't enough memorably moments, no great face-offs. The book itself was never meant to be a mystery thriller, but rather, a book of poems written in novel form. And the dialogue in The Hippopotamus is of absolutely stellar quality. It is, we could say, la raison d'être of the film, in its role of merely a platform for Fry's masterful compositions of the English language. As for the production, i found the soundtrack to the severely lacking. The film adaptation also demands a rewrite and some decent direction, and while this may require Effort(tm) i don't see why we need to stop at simply filming theater, since that's the very opposite of why films exist. You should watch The Hippopotamus, it's very well acted (with Roger Allen in top shape), occasionally funny, and contains at least one memorable line, but if you do watch it don't expect to be amazed; once the words hit the screen, you'll realize it's still only a book, and not A FILM. 7.5/10 - if you want to do better, learn to use the camera.

Despite the promising premise and cast, I found the "The Hippopotamus" to be very disappointing. Much of the 'humour' came from Roger Allam's foul-mouthed muttering and yelling. A little bit goes a long way and (IMO) incessant profanity in a comedy is usually sign of a lacklustre script (like third-rate stand-up - if you're not funny, yell 'F---' a lot and hope for cheap laughs). The story, which finds Allam's obnoxious washed-up poet "investigating" claims of miraculous cures at a country estate starts off promisingly but then degenerates into a series of embarrassing sex-sight-gags. Given that this was based on a book by the talented Stephan Fry and included some fine British comic actors (e.g. Tim McInnerny was great in the Blackadder series), "The Hippopotamus" was a real let-down.

Before even realizing it I thought that this sounded like Stephen Fry with his never ending sentences, analogies and metaphors that are neither that funny or clever for that matter. It was narrated by the lead character, but might as well of been narrated by Stephen Fry and the gist was lost in endless babble. I thought the story was more based on his atheist ideologies but probably could of worked but didn't. The characters were weak and the lead character was over dramatic and unrealistic. I have noticed, that many British shows will have quirky characters or the usual cynical grump, but instead of connecting to them, they are just over the top like a children's pantomime. I have never read the book, so have no clue how close to the story the movie was.