Stanley: a Man of Variety

Audaciously brandishing the influence of Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and David Lynch's Eraserhead (1976), this is a disconcerting treatise on the sadness and cynicism that underpins so much traditional British comedy. At its noir-like heart is Stanley (Timothy Spall), whose psychiatric facility is facing closure. However, the strain of moving on prompts him to re-examine his troubled past and curiously clear conscience with the help of the music-hall and movie stars with whom he is obsessed (even though he doesn't always understand their humour). Following in the footsteps of Alec Guinness, Spall plays the monochrome spectres as a series of comic grotesques, who will prompt viewers to reassess such national treasures as George Formby, Noël Coward, Tony Hancock, Maxes Miller and Wall, Frank Randle, Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford. But, for all the brilliance of Spall's bravura performance and the quirkily unsettling production values, the script that Spall concocted with director Stephen Cookson loses its way in seeking to spice up the concluding message with a twist.