Rent Stanley: Man of Variety (2016)
2.8 of 5 from 65 ratings
1h 23min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
In this darkly funny tale, Stanley (Timothy Spall) finds himself in prison for a crime he believes he didn't commit. Now a lonely, forgotten man approaching his fifteenth year in the old psychiatric facility, he maintains his role as a trustee by cleaning the grim prison interior, which earns him the privilege of watching and re-watching classic videos from his prised collection of memorabilia. When this privilege is withdrawn, Stanley becomes so distressed that he suffers a physical and mental seizure. Soon enough, his beloved heroes - Max Wall, George Formby, Max Miller, Margaret Rutherford, Alastair Sim and more - visit him in hallucinations (all played by Spall) showing their sinister, unsettling side and take him on a bizarre journey through the unbearable truth of his life and incarceration. - Actors:
- Timothy Spall
- Directors:
- Stephen Cookson
- Producers:
- Stephen Cookson
- Writers:
- Stephen Cookson, Falcon Fields, Timothy Spall
- Aka:
- Special One / Eye Digress / Stanley a Man of Variety
- Studio:
- Tribal Film Productions Ltd
- Genres:
- Comedy, Drama
- Collections:
- A Brief History of Film..., Topping the Music Hall Bill
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Reviews (1) of Stanley: Man of Variety
Innovative but baffling - Stanley: Man of Variety review by RD
Stanley is a caretaker-prisoner in a psychiatric prison. We see him in his cell pushing tokens into his VHS player and watching old comedy acts. Without spoiling the plot too much, he goes through a crisis and is visited by Max Wall (Mr.Spall plays all the parts in this film) who presses him to write a letter.
More scenes of day to day drudgery follow and are interrupted by Mr. Spall as classic comedy characters, one at a time who engage with Stanley in often furious and over-acted conversations. Most were quite baffling in what they were saying. This is repeated until the end of the film, and although we stuck it to the end, we were definitely in need of a drink to break the monotony.
Individual acting was good, Mr Spall had obviously studied the vocal presentations of the characters he portrayed and made a good stab at them even though he is not by nature an impressionist. Sound design of the film was excellent and very imaginative. It was well shot and the visual effects were carefully crafted to fit in, however the baffling dialogue and sparse nature of the plot/storyline left an anaemic and over-long film.
Towards the end we are treated to several scenes of Stanley coming out of his flat, and throwing tennis balls down the corridor whilst shouting. In other scenes he throws his pills into a chamber pot. What this is about is a mystery and typifies the experience of the film.
Avoid the film unless you're feeling very experimental and avante-garde.
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