12 in a Box

Writer/director John McKenzie can thank the popularity of Miranda Hart for helping his affable ensemble comedy to receive a belated release, six years after it was completed. Shot on a shoestring in splendid Palladian surroundings, it chronicles the efforts of a dozen former pupils from an eccentric millionaire's alma mater to win £1 million each by spending 96 hours isolated from the outside world. Things get off to a bad start when one ageing gent has a fatal heart attack and milquetoast Kenneth Collard's suspicious fiancée (Hart, in an admittedly small role) has to be locked in a bedroom to stop her from breaching the terms of the wager. But they go from bad to worse as guilty secrets, marital spats and sexual tensions undermine the group resolve before a couple of burglars show up. Belle Mary Hithersay stands out as a hypocritical God-botherer and the punch line is a doozie, but otherwise the farce is forced, the gags grate and the standard of playing varies wildly.