Black Pond
Dir: Will Sharpe, Tom Kingsley
2011
****
Complete lack of publicity aside, I think those who knew about Black Pond's existence, may have been put off by the fact it marks the return of Chris Langham. All I will say about him is he has always made me laugh in everything he's been in. However, had I known Simon Amstell was in it, I might not have bothered. Luckily, he doesn't spoil it and Langham's presence doesn't detract from the message of the film. Normal people can sometimes act in abnormal ways and also extraordinary ways. There is an edgy humour in this film, most of the times it works and when it does, it works well. The description and poster of this film are very misleading. It is not about a 'Murder gone wrong' and don't expect any comedy 'What do we do with the corpse' scenes. This is a dark comedy but also a really poignant and quite remarkable film, the last scene and indeed the last line said by Langham's character not only explains the point to anyone who doesn't get it but it also delivers such a powerful and uplifting message, it makes the whole film worthwhile and certainly worth sitting through. My only criticism is the dodgy cast, it's 50% great acting and 50% not, but it's definitely a good film, probably one of the best films no one saw in 2011.