Review: Scottish comedy shorts, Shark!, A Man Called Otto

The Herald Scotland

a day ago

Billed as an 'entertainment and wildlife crossover' - fancy - Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters (STV, Monday) involved seven moderately famous sorts being flown to the Bahamas to learn how to swim with sharks. To show that this was all about education and not cheap laughs, the celebs were promised that no one would be voted off each week. I'd have thought that was the least of their worries.
Looking at their terrified faces in the briefing, a few were wondering why they had not accepted the offer of a train ride with Michael Portillo instead. It did not help that one of the instructors was missing an arm and a leg after an encounter with a bull shark - the very type the celebs were about to meet.
Since it was the first day, the stars were allowed to stand in a cage while sharks the size of Renault Clios had fun rattling the bars. Call the Midwife's Helen George had the worst of it, being too scared to put her head underwater, never mind go eyeball to eyeball with a shark.
She had her reasons for fearing the water, as did Lenny Henry. 'I like the idea of having a little bit more bravery,' he said. 'Yes, we're on the telly. Yes, we're all celebrities, but it's different, this.' Was it, though? Heartstring-tugging back stories, manufactured jeopardy - it all seemed pretty standard reality show fare.
The instructors were good value, and the celebrities more thoughtful than your average bunch. Ross Noble kept the quips coming, while George, once the screaming stopped, was charming company, even when a stingray got too close for comfort. 'Oh my God, it's coming right for my vagina,' she cried.
There are four more weeks of this to go. I don't think Sir David Attenborough has anything to worry about.
New Scottish comedy talent was on show in Govan Fair Queen and Good For Her (BBC Scotland, Monday, now on iPlayer). Normally, that would be our cue to flee the area, but not this time. Both had laugh-out-loud moments and characters you would happily give house room to again.
Written by Paul Black, Govan Fair Queen starred Elaine C Smith - one of several bigger names lending a hand - as a doting granny determined that her granddaughter (Harper Blue Hamilton) would win first prize in a local talent contest.
Smith was in familiar Two Doors Down/Rab C territory at first as the fag-smoking gran in a housecoat and slippers, but the story soon branched out. I've watched plenty of talent show skits, but none as truly madly Glaswegian as this. Let's just say there was one visual gag in keeping with the local culture.
Good For Her was a Fast Show-style sketch fest written and performed by Zara Gladman. You may be familiar with some of her characters, chiefly Aileen, the West End mum, but there were several others. Whether she was taking on the misogynist trolling of women comedians - surely not! - indie fan boys or the ways of local newsreaders, Gladman hit the mark.
There was a catch, of course. Both offerings were shorts: Govan Fair Queen was 10 minutes long, and Good for Her 20 minutes.
While there is nothing wrong with starting life as a short or a sketch - Still Game came from Chewin the Fat - it doesn't have the same ring of confidence about it as a pilot (the Two Doors Down Hogmanay special that led to seven series and counting).
While a nicely produced short is a handy calling card, both performers are already well known on YouTube and TikTok, particularly Gladman. What they need now is to make the jump from online to mainstream. These shorts will help, but all concerned need to get a wriggle on. It's a crowded market out there for comedy, and getting more so every day.
Bookish (U&Alibi on Sky/Virgin Media/Now, Wednesday) found Sherlock writer Mark Gatiss striking out on his own. Gatiss played
Gabriel Book, a secondhand bookshop owner/sleuth.
Blessed with brilliant recall and a nose for a wrong 'un, the Tolstoy-quoting Book was a handy man to have around when a body was found. Not every copper was pleased to see him, but he had a letter from Churchill which gave him special access. It was one of several clues suggesting Book was not a man to be judged by his cover.
This being bombed-out London two years after the war, finding bodies was not a rare occurrence. Just as well Book had a new assistant, Jack (Connor Finch), fresh out of jail that very day.
Jack wondered why Book had welcomed a stranger, and an ex-con at that, into his home and given him a job. Those were questions for another time, when they were not busy with the suspicious death of a local worthy.
The case took two hour-long episodes to solve, a fair old chunk of anyone's time, particularly when the budget could only stretch to a handful of the same streets and interiors.
Canny TV operator that he is, Gatiss introduced a dog into the mix just in time. Not just any dog, but one that carried messages in a special container attached to his collar. As an idea it could catch on (have you seen the price of stamps?).
More of a daytime drama than evening fare, but worth a look, if only to see that clever dog (named simply "Dog" by the way) in action.
Time was when a Saturday night movie starring Tom Hanks would have involved an expedition to the cinema and no change out of £20. Now you can watch the double Oscar-winner for free, at home, in a film on general release not that long ago (as long as you don't mind the ads). Old Hollywood would think the business had lost its collective mind.
A Man Called Otto (Channel 4, available to stream for 30 days for free on 4) began life as a Swedish novel and film before this US remake by Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, World War Z).
Tom Hanks played the grumpy widower who thought the world was full of idiots. Without Otto doing his morning 'rounds' of the neighbourhood and telling people off for poor parking and other crimes, it would be anarchy out there. So far, so Victor Meldrew - and so predictable.
Sure enough, a young family moved into the cul-de-sac and chipped away at Otto's Easter Island exterior. Before you knew it, the old grump was doing good deeds left, right and centre.
Among A-listers, what's left of them, only Hanks could get away with such an obvious schmaltz fest as A Man Called Otto. Tom Cruise would only attempt it if snow shovelling could be turned into a life-or-death stunt. Harrison Ford comes across as authentically grumpy, so that wouldn't be much fun. Clint Eastwood probably came closest in Gran Torino, though that too was a touch spiky. But Hanks, the heir to Jimmy Stewart as a paragon of decency? Perfect.
That said, credit to the Forrest Gump and Philadelphia star for sticking with the Swedish original and going to some very bleak places with the grief-stricken Otto.
Tom Hanks and feline friend in A Man Called Otto (Image: Niko Tavernise/2022 CTMG)
Otto, we learn from (too many) flashbacks was another in a long line of everyday American heroes to feature on the Hanks cv. This one was notable because he was ordinary to the point of almost being dull. It was love that saved him before, and it would do so again.
Hanks's son Truman did a fine job of playing the young Otto. Having him around was far preferable to the startling moment when Hanks appeared as his younger self, complete with weird CGI face and unfeasibly dark hair.
As for the business model behind A Man Called Otto, it more than paid its way: made for $50 million, it grossed more than double that worldwide in cinemas. Nice guys like Hanks never finish last.