Projects in genres: Comedy

Synopsis

A hilarious comedy . . . It's 1977 and our love-struck young hero drops his sequins for safety pins.. and deserts disco for Punk. Vince Smith is eighteen, shy and maybe in love . . . with Joanna, who works in the same office. By day he's a lawyer's clerk, but by night he's an aspiring disco dancer . . . Joanna Robinson is also eighteen, not shy and really likes Vince, especially teasing him. By day, she's also a lawyer's clerk, but by night, she's a punk . . . Harold Smith is Vince's dad. He's retired, likes his pipe, his telly and sitting quietly in a corner being ignored by his glamorous wife Irene and the rest of the Smith family. Until one Christmas day he does an amazing magic trick . . . which catapults a reluctant Harold into the limelight of the North of England. Whilst Harold's previously peaceful world is thrown upside down by his new-found magical powers, Vince has fallen head over heels for a spiky punk girl. Father and son are in turmoil but together they discover it's not what you are, it's who you are that makes for true happiness.

Synopsis

With three of his novels already adapted into successful films, When Brendan Met Trudy marks Roddy Doyle's first original screenplay. Exhausted by the research that went into his latest novel, A Star Called Henry, Doyle decided to stick to what he knew well and write a script that would not require long hours in libraries or in-depth interviews with historians. The result is a light-hearted romantic drama that pays homage to some of the great classics of the silver screen. Peter McDonald stars as Brendan, a teacher and film buff who escapes the boredom of his job by day-dreaming about the films he adores and singing in the local choir. He meets bohemian eccentric Trudy (Flora Montgomery), a nursery teacher, who introduces him to a new and invigorating way of life. When he discovers that she is really a thief, it adds an extra frisson to their whirlwind relationship but things go awry when Trudy meets Brendan's sister (Pauline McLynne). Trudy dumps Brendan, forcing him to move to get her back. As with his previous films, Doyle set the action in Dublin but was keen that his director, Kieran J Walsh (with whom he had made the short Hell For Leather), and production team showed a different side of the town, one that would reflect the romanticism of the narrative. "I dropped hints in the script on how it should be different from the Barrytown films, The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van. Dublin is a different place than when we did The Commitments. I decided to go for a more middle-class setting because I think that reflects Dublin more now."

Synopsis

When Brendan Met Trudy is a romantic comedy, set in present-day Dublin. Night: Brendan Moore (32), a teacher and movie buff, tenor and loner, lies on a Dublin street, face-down in a puddle. Paraphrasing William Holden at the start of Sunset Boulevard, he invites us to go back with him to 'the day it all started'. Brendan meets Trudy Fortune (28), a Montessori teacher, in a pub. They agree to meet again, for a movie, but Trudy doesn't show up. Brendan goes looking, and finds her. They try again. The relationship brings Brendan to places he's never known - parties, the supermarket, friendship with a Nigerian refugee call Edgar - and the sex is glorious. For the first time in his adult live Brendan is having fun. Then Brendan, fearing that Trudy is a serial castrator doing the rounds of Dublin, finds out that she is actually a burglar. He begins to enjoy her life of crime - and the sex is even better . . .

Synopsis

Broughton 'B' FC aren't just bad, they're awful. They cheerfully face a weekly inevitable annihilation with scores such as 27-0. This young team never let defeat get them down even when their sponsor, the local optician, offers them free eye tests. A heart-warming film which shows that hope really does spring eternal.

Synopsis

All for Eight Pounds Fifty is a light comedy set in Northern Ireland. The Heroes or villains of the piece decide that robbing a small country petrol station will give them enough money to have a good time. The robbery is a success but the haul is not quite what they expected.

Synopsis

Sir Robert Chiltern is a man who has everything. A brilliant politician and a perfect gentleman, he is the ideal husband for the captivating Lady Chiltern. Admired by all, they present an exquisite picture of wedded harmony. But when the scheming and seductive Mrs Cheveley threatens to reveal a dark secret from Chiltern's past, the very foundations of his prized career and marriage look set to crumble. Cornered, he turns to his life long friend, Lord Arthur Goring. Famed all over town for his dazzling wit and cultivated misbehaviour, Goring soon finds himself caught up in a tangled web of lies, temptations and secret liaisons. Yet while he excels at the affairs of others, his own are to prove more challenging. The persistent charms of Mabel Chiltern, Sir Robert's sister are becoming an increasing threat to his cherished bachelorhood. She's a match for him if ever there was one . . . Romantic, funny and moving, An Ideal Husband delivers political intrigue and sparkling wit, and summons a picture of a society grappling with issues which are as pertinent in our own society as they were 100 years ago . . .

Synopsis

Anthrakitis tells the story of Dolly, an elderly widow, who has been hoarding coal since the deaths of her husband and son years ago in mining accidents. When Dolly realises that everyone in the village wants a bit of her fifty foot high coal mountain, including her home help, Winny, Dolly is forced to take drastic measures . . .

Synopsis

A woman makes bread in her kitchen. The bread dough, through the care it is given and vigorous kneading, grows into a huge blob. Somehow, the blob gets into her bed. The film steps from the kitchen and bedroom experiences to make a fast, rhythmic, humorous and poignant film.

Synopsis

Desserts is a black and humorous tale about the supernatural results of a man's greed. It is possibly the shortest film ever made about revenge.

Synopsis

Set in Salford in 1970, East is East is a fast moving comedy of mixed-race manners. It centres on the Anglo-Pakistani alliance of the Khan family that is both claustrophobically cohesive and desperately dysfunctional. In their cramped Salford terrace house, daily anarchy erupts with farcical energy. The Khan children, being caught between bell-bottoms and arranged marriages, scoff surreptitious rashers of bacon as they are buffeted this way and that by their father's insistence on tradition, their English mother's laissez-faire, and their own wish to be citizens of the modern world. Based on the award-winning stage play by Ayub Khan-Din, East is East was originally produced by the Royal Court Theatre, revived due to critical acclaim at the Theatre Royal in Stratford East 1997.

Synopsis

For drunk towny mates Rich and Paul it's been a grim old Friday night on the pulling girls front. Paul's off home and Rich wants the chicken tikka masala, only there's bad news: his wages haven't cleared. And when your wages haven't cleared, trying to stuff your face can be dicey . . .

Synopsis

At the wake of an actor who has died in sudden and unexpected circumstances, a group of friends gather around the grieving Sadie only to find themselves being filmed to conclude a movie the deceased had been working on in the months leading up to his death. To help them understand why she wishes to complete the film, Sadie shows the group earlier footage in which they've been filmed unaware by video cameras hidden around the house (in living rooms, bedrooms and toilet!) at dinners, parties and so on. The footage of the friends, interspersed with Jude's own to-camera sequences (commenting on what they are watching) turns out to be shocking and often explicit recordings of personal conversations, drug taking and sexual encounters. As a result the wake increasingly descends into an absurdly comic, recriminatory and violent debacle as the group confront each other over the truths revealed on video. Final Cut is a wildly outrageous, extremely funny 'false' documentary partially filmed on video, where the actors use their own names and play fictionalised versions of their real personalities. Guaranteed to offend some and intrigue others,Final Cut is an ambitious and entertaining low budget film featuring some of the cream of young British acting talent.