Dad’s Army

Director Oliver Parker was always going to be up against it when he took on the idea of making his Dad’s Army movie. After all, the potential audience was likely to consist of the many thousands of people who have grown up with the iconic TV series (diehard fans continue to feed their habit with regular repeats of the 80 episodes made of the programme). The dilemma? How to convey the mood of the original without tarnishing what is, let’s face it, a much-loved British ‘brand’? Fortunately, rather than try to reinvent the characters, he made the sensible decision to choose actors who closely resemble the originals… and what inspired choices he made!

Because there’s no doubt that a major strength of the film is the excellent casting. Bill Nighy (who else?) is suitably louche as Sergeant Wilson, the role immortalised by that most quintessential of lounge lizards, John le Mesurier. Michael Gambon is also delightful as the bumbling Private Godfrey we’ve come to know and love. But I think the plaudits definitely have to go to the star of the show.  Just as Arthur Lowe was the lynchpin of the TV series, so it is Toby Jones’ performance as Captain Mainwaring that holds this film together. His is a perfect comic performance with nice slapstick touches. I loved the scene where he removes his spectacles in a bid to attract Zeta Jones – my, how we just love to see a man’s vanity punctured! The only weak link for me is Tom Courtenay. Always at or near the forefront of the action in the series, Corporal Jones here has a surprisingly low profile. When he does speak, I feel he doesn’t really capture the boyish enthusiasm of the original character - just ‘not nearly excitable enough’, as one critic put it. Catherine Zeta Jones, as undercover German spy Rose Winters, exudes the requisite degree of 1940s glamour and, though not exactly stretched in the part, fulfils her role well. The hilarious, if rather predictable, reaction of the menfolk of Walmington-on-Sea to her arrival provides a rich seam of humour, though some might find Pike envisioned as Errol Flynn a step too far into the realms of the surreal!

One of the things I really enjoyed about this film was the higher profile given to the female characters. Here they were pivotal to the denouement and I fully approved of this added modern twist, i.e. (hoorah!) the womenfolk saving the day. A strong cast of female actors includes Alison Steadman (as a blowsy Mrs Fox) and the ever-reliable Sarah Lancashire (as Mavis Pike), AND we are treated to an actual, real-life Mrs Mainwaring - never seen in the original - played doughtily by Felicity Montagu. Some critics have argued that the fact that we never meet Mrs M in the original series is kind of the point (a bit like fat Brenda in Coronation Street’s cab office or Samantha the fictional score-keeper in Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue), but I liked this touch.

Critical response to the film has been generally muted. Some really don’t like it. Nick de Semlyen of the empire.com website says: “This is karaoke filmmaking, trading on nostalgia rather than breaking new territory”. My opinion? No, it’s not a masterpiece of filmmaking, but it does keeps the spirit of the original alive and, despite the fact that “there isn’t an edgy bone in its body” (Variety critic Catherine Bray) the film makes enjoyable, undemanding viewing. For viewers looking out for them, many of the series’ familiar catchphrases are there (let’s face, we’d have felt short-changed if they hadn’t been) but they are not laboured. There are a few laugh-out-loud moments, but the comedy is, as with the original, gentle and understated. Ideal Sunday afternoon fare!