A Private Function (DVD)

On the face of it, this should have been a great film. Written by Alan Bennett, one might have expected it to be hilariously funny. It wasn't. With stars including Michael Palin (as podiatrist Gilbert Chilvers), Maggie Smith (his wife, Joyce) and Denholm Elliott (as Dr Charles Swaby), you might have expected outstanding performances. That didn't happen either. What happened instead was a turgid tale of life in postwar England. It's just as well it was a freebie from the Times; I would have hated to spend money on it.

Cast
Michael Palin: Gilbert Chilvers
Maggie Smith: Joyce Chilvers
Denholm Elliot: Dr. Charles Swaby
Richard Griffith: Henry Allardyce the Accountant
Tony Haygarth: Leonard Sutcliff the Farmer
John Normington: Frank Lockwood the Solicitor
Bill Paterson: Morris Wormold the Meat Inspector
Liz Smith: Joyce's Mother
Alison Steadman: Mrs. Allardyce
Jim Carter: Inspector Noble
Pete Postlethwaite: Douglas J. Nuttol the Butcher

Plot
The leading lights of town society (the doctor, the solicitor and the accountant) have a major function coming up and have bribed a local farmer to fatten up an unlicensed pig. They spend much of their time checking on the pig while trying to avoid the attentions of the local meat inspector.

The local butcher is also in on it (his competitors are closed down by the deadly combination of the local meat inspector and the police inspector.)

In a parallel story, Chilvers is under pressure from his wife to move up the social ladder and put meat on the table. When the lease on his new surgery is cancelled at the last minute thanks to the doctor's machinations, everything seems hopeless. He gets renewed hope when he discovers the illegal pig and makes arrangements to steal it in an attempt to placate his wife.

The tug of war between the leading citizens and Chilvers and his wife is mildly amusing, as are attempts to butcher the pig and to hide its existence from Joyce's dotty mother, well played by Liz Smith. The meat inspector's disability is also a comic/ironic touch.

What I thought
From an educational point of view, this was quite an interesting film. There was lots of information about the mechanics of rationing of food and petrol and the black market dealings that went on.

Sadly, that wasn't enough to carry the film for me. It was a long 92 minutes and frankly, I was bored most of the time. I only kept watching because I hate to leave a film unfinished, but it would have been more rewarding to watch paint dry.

Since most of the cast have been successful in other TV and film productions, I can only assume that it's Alan Bennett's script that is at fault. I'll be avoiding his stuff in the future.