WALK LIKE A PANTHER

GRINGO

Cert time Cert Running Running time

This action comedy with a great cast looks great on paper but terrible on the big screen.

Brit actor David Oyelowo plays Harold, a put-upon employee of a US pharmaceutical firm who is kidnapped while working in Mexico.

Joel Edgerton, Amanda Seyfried and Thandie Newton appear alongside Charlize Theron who also produced the film. Edgerton’s brother directs and this cosy set-up probably contributed to the air of indulgence in the filmmaking.

Though offering a reward for Harold’s return, his duplicitous bosses would rather claim on the life insurance and a local drugs cartel becomes involved.

Never funny, fast or furious enough to entertain, and we’re asked to feel sympathy for too many double-crossing, violent and greedy people, none of whom we care about and all of which are stupid and/or obnoxious.

Tone deaf, sluggishly paced and laugh free, it sees countless bullets wasted on a showdown. And it’s a shame some of the characters survive.

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Grapple as long as you want with this wrestlingbased British comedy, but you’ll struggle to pin down any laughs among the amiable goings on.A Yorkshire community must rally around to save the local boozer from closure by the villainous brewery boss, a pantomime Stephen Tompkinson.So to raise the cash and inspired by the internet, pub landlord Stephen Graham and his OAP regulars reform the Panthers, the professional wrestling team of their long-ago prime.Full of nostalgia for the exploits of Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks, this aims to be a feelgood crowd pleaser like the superior Brassed Off or The Full Monty.It’s a celebration of two inextricably linked British institutions, the local boozer and rubbish sportsmen.In its defence, it’s always great to see actors such as Stephen Graham, Julian Sands, Jill Halfpenny and Sue Johnston on screen, and there’s no doubt they’re having a great time and the film’s heart is in the right place.