As this got underway, I found myself of course wondering if I hadn’t already seen it earlier in the day in the form of Outlaw. The set-up is similar, and of course, there’s Danny Dyer.

Actually, I ultimately found it quite a neat blending of something like Outlaw and, with the presence of Gillian Anderson, what I missed in Outlaw that The Brave One had to offer. I was surprised to find I liked Danny Dyer in Outlaw, and the same was true here; I love Gillian Anderson, of course; and despite the very clearcut masculine-feminine thing here (the women quite literally leave the movie for “somewhere safe” before horrible manly things happen), I found it much better than the reviews I’ve read. Clocking in at little over 70 minutes, it’s easily worth that just for Anderson’s performance, but there’s plenty more to get into too.

Watched for Nicola Stapleton of course, on which note I wasn’t disappointed, of course, but this has a really interesting selection of other people in its cast – Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton stand out like a sore thumb with all they’ve achieved since, but there’s also Hugh Quarshie, one of the best things in the BBC’s “Holby City”. I found it a decent enough Brit flick about a guy who just can’t catch a break.

I seem to remember there was something in the marketing of this movie that made me pretty uneasy, and led me to expect something very different to what it ultimately is. They funded it in part from Nick Love fans making donations in exchange for “inside info” and the chance to be an extra. There was something about it that felt very mobbish, leading me to expect a movie that pandered to the kind of people who read the Daily Mail and attack the homes of paediatricians, nevermind paedophiles. That Chris Morris Jam opening comes to mind of the guy pointing at the front page of a tabloid with an expression of disgust at the toerag pictured only to realise, oh dear, he is that toerag.

But I’ve gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised. Though the movie does at times go a little too simple – there’s one moment where my heart sank, as Sean Bean gathers the disparate, downtrodden characters in a gymnasium and addresses them, explaining that they’re not just out for personal revenge, they’re gonna get “ALL the paedophiles, ALL the scum … BLAIR!” and the movie threatens to turn into nothing but a British wanna be Fight Club. It gets past that stage though, and while it’s certainly no Brave One, not to mention my feelings on the misuse of the dreaded P-word (which I won’t get into at this time of year) ... considering my expectations I was fairly shocked by how atypically masculine a movie it turns out to be. The technical stuff’s pretty flawless, too.

Second viewing note: I don’t yet feel ready to rewrite the below review, I’ll wait till I get the DVD, but I did get to see this movie again recently and would add that, unlike Kill Bill: Vol. 2 which I watched for the second time on the same day as this second viewing, this wasn’t so much better the second time. As many jokes fall flat as those that split the sides. The way I’d put it is, this movie is much better when you’re thinking back on it with a friend, thinking of all the good parts, than while you’re watching when you have to put up with the uncomfortable silences when it’s not so great. But its moments do still hold it high above other movies I’ve seen so far this year (‘cept Vol. 2 which I will be re-reviewing when I’ve the time for the detailed analysis it deserves…)

As this movie is on release, it almost looks when you go to the cinema like you have this big taking sides thing going on – the “official”, pumped-up, American remake of the classic 1978 Romero movie, or this seemingly spoof-like British “comedy”? My advice first of all is, if you have a weak stomach, don’t think you’ll get off lighter if you go to the “comedy” option… plus don’t expect any kind of spoofery in the vain of Scary Movie and the likes. Shaun of the Dead is best described as a romantic comedy where there happen to be z- umm… you know, the undead, walking around. I hate the term romantic comedy because this is as comedic as “The Office” (lame comparison, I know, but I’ve been watching it recently and it springs to mind – Lucy Davis aka Dawn is also in the cast, plus Martin Freeman aka Tim makes a brief appearance), but it’s romantic, it’s very funny, so there you go. Then there’s the stuff that fans of Romero will love. Everything that we wanted from the Dawn of the Dead remake is ironically right here – flashes of the music, slow moving zombies that seem to have stepped right out of ‘78 apart from the make-up, and one visual effect in particular which is why I don’t recommend it to the weak stomached…

I don’t mean to put down the remake at all, read my review of that and you’ll see I didn’t entirely dislike it … I just prefer this by far – and usually, I’m not so wowed by British cinema (though hmm, watched Love Actually last night and my reaction – which I’ll post later – was actually quite disturbing for my I-hate-British-cinema-right-now stance). It’s finally a movie that’s willing to go its own way. A lot of people will come to this and they’ll like bits of it but be put off by the rest. The gore, for example, is supremely grotesque, more than I’d expected by far, worse than the Dawn remake, but I guess it gets a lower rating because it’s slightly more absurd and a little more fake. Add in serious moments (*SPOILER* mum turns into a zombie, so you can guess where that ends up) and some biting media digs that some will find out of place in what amounts to an alright popcorn movie, and though it cobbles together homage, rip-off and parody for its duration, not unlike Tarantino’s Kill Bill, it comes out, not unlike Tarantino’s Kill Bill, smelling of completely original roses.

The camerawork in particular surprised me for a Brit-flick. The closest I’ve seen to some of the great long steadicam shots in this movie was in the half-British Notting Hill as Hugh Grant walks through the market, but if I remember rightly, that shot was achieved digitally. A shot in Shaun where Shaun walks out of his house and across the street and into a newsagents’, a shot which is done a couple of times too, is an instant favourite shot of mine. It’s not just this though: overall the camera just feels much free-er here than the usual big-screen television British filmmakers usually come out with. Considering the director here came from television, this is pretty impressive indeed.

This is one of my favourite recent British movies. I just read a review that compared Coogan’s Simon Garden to Inspector Clouseau – I’d never made that comparison before but it’s spot on… in fact, I’d personally say Coogan is funnier.

The Parole Officer borrows from a whole bundle of movies but comes out being better probably than any of them. All the characters are lovable in their own way and you really care about them in the end. There’s a whole load of hilarious scenes – from the rollercoaster to the art museum – and they all have great lines to go with them. They’re mostly very simple gags, but it’s Coogan that finds the freshness in them – even in the pre-credits sequence, when he falls off his chair, he does it in a way only Coogan can. If you listen to him on any of the DVD commentaries he’s done, he’s actually a fairly serious guy about comedy – he definitely is interested in the theory behind what works, and it really shows when he’s onscreen.

Finally Emma Williams – she’s hardly the star of the movie or a major character but I always notice her. A year or two following the movie she played Truly Scrumptious onstage in the West End “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” and it’s always amazing to me how different she both looks and acts in this movie. She’s got a hell of an infectious smile and really lights up all the scenes she’s in… even the one she spends most of simply yelling, “Bollocks!” My personal favourite.