BRIAN AND CHARLES
Cert PG ★★★★
In cinemas now
This quirky buddy comedy marks the big-screen debut of British comic David Earl’s alter ego Brian Gittins, a cabbageobsessed inventor working from a cow shed in rural Wales.
In an opening voiceover, Brian relates how he gave himself “a kick up the backside” after his life went “a bit topsy-turvy”.
He proudly shows the camera the fruits of his new resolve – self-explanatory gadgets “pinecone bag”, the “egg belt” and the “flying cuckoo clock”.
When the latter catches fire on a muddy runway (Brian’s garden path), our plucky hero remains upbeat.
“You try things. You don’t succeed. You just got to keep trying,” he tells the camera with a nervous smile. The next “thing” he tries is even more ambitious. After finding a mannequin’s head and old washing machine in a rubbish heap, Brian decides to make a friend. Literally.
His 7ft robot whirs into life in the middle of a thunderstorm, just like Frankenstein’s monster.
After a difficult start, a touching friendship develops between man and machine (Earl’s co-writer Chris
Hayward), who chooses the name Charles Petrescu.
Brian is instantly smitten by “cheeky Charles”, who speaks with a stilted English accent and dances excitedly whenever he enters the room.
Brian, already considered the village oddball, is desperate to keep Charles indoors and protect him from “a perilous world”.
However, the new friendship inspires Brian to step out of his comfort zone, starting a tentative romance with fellow misfit Hazel (Louise Brealey), who lives nearby with her mother and a parrot.
But when Charles is discovered by bullying farmer Eddie (Jamie Michie), Brian’s journey back into society takes a truly perilous turn.
The finale, featuring a van chase and cabbage gun, isn’t quite as slick as the one in the new Thor movie. But it’s tense, surprising and a lot more rousing.