Guest House Paradiso DVD > Reviews > Bottom Goes Large

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Very ordinary
Characters / Performances	Satisfactory
Special Effects	Unmemorable
How does it compare to similar films?	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Slapstick crazed humour
Disadvantages:	Poor storyline, lack of supporting cast

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson go Hollywood, in one of the most unlikely big-screen productions to come out of the UK for quite some time. Nurturing the characters that they've raised through twenty years of working together, Richard Richard and Eddie Hitler are cast as the seedy hotel masters of Guest House Paradiso. You've already guessed the plot, you've got a fair idea of the violence that follows, so how does it all add up? To be honest, this is a bridge too far for a comic duo who belong on the live stage together. Bereft of the energy that comes from a heckling audience, they try every trick in the book to drag out a ninety minute success story. Unfortunately, it's half baked and descends in to reckless chaos as the movie runs out of storyline goodness.

It's a given, the story was never going to be the vital ingredient in making Guest House Paradiso a hit or a miss. With Mayall and Edmondson, you have two veteran performers with a fine knack for comic awareness. They know how to rally off of each other and produce some laugh out loud moments. But despite an honorable effort, the mindless violence loses its shock factor and it's only downhill from there.

Written by the stars of the movie themselves, Rik and Ade have worked together for a long time. Ever since they turned heads as a riotous pair in The Young Ones, they've had a strong following in the market of slapstick humour. What followed was three series of "Bottom", shown on the BBC in the mid 90s. The story picked up with the two losers scraping through life, barely affording the cash for a televison license and retaining their panache for a good old fashioned fist fight. The actors had matured. Long gone was the crazy ginger barnet and punk outfit of Edmondson, replaced with a suitably familiar brown suit and shaven head. It suits Eddie perfectly. The lovable, if slightly bloody dangerous representation of politically incorrect Britain circa 1995. Rich, on the other hand, is a delightfully hideous concoction of self-indulgent failure. He tries so hard to fit several classes above his head, but ultimately, he's the biggest loser on the planet.

What the two characters lack in similarity, they make up for in excellent chemistry. You can tell that they're great friends away from the screen and it shines through with the way that they relate to each other on it. Even when they're slamming their partner's head in a fridge door, you can still picture the laughs that were had on set when it all went wrong. And with Bottom, you're guaranteed plenty of amusing bloopers.

Unfortunately, Guest House Paradiso fades away after a promising start. Edmondson had to finish the script on his own after Rik famously crashed his motorcycle and fell in to a coma. Without knowing whether his best friend would even survive, Edmondson set about finishing the script and he does a good job on his own. Despite a brave effort, you can't help but feel that the later stages of the movie are rushed through and a little sketchy. Understandable when you consider what must've been on Ade's plate at the time of writing, but it can't be missed in a review such as this.

The story hovers between mild improbability, and sheer absurdity. Rich is in control of the hotel, with the unenviable job of waking Eddie in the mornings. What he doesn't know is that Eddie isn't even at the hotel. He's been drinking again. What follows is a crazy opening sequence involving a motorbike, a name badge, and two pairs of shirts. See it to believe it, it's one of the funniest set-pieces of the movie.

As you'd expect, Richie and Eddie make Basil Fawlty look like the mastermind of a five star hotel. With a chef imported from the back of a lorry, and a slightly unusual method of "filing the bills", you can never be sure just what's lurking around the corner for our crazed main characters.

The chunky bulk of the story revolves around Gina Carbonara, an Italian porn star, hounded by the paparazzi who simply wants to get away from the flash bulbs. She turns up on the doorstep of Guest House Paradiso seeking some solitude and a chance to unwind by the coast. It was the only choice! The hotel was unlisted in the directory and even the locals deny its very existance. Who could possibly find her? What Gina hasn't taken in to consideration is that the locals deny its existance to shy away from the crazed association with our two leading stars. Nobody wants anything to do with poor Richie and Eddie. Maybe that's why the valuables safe acts as a tip collection for the hotel's funding.

To be fair, the opening half an hour is very good from a british comedy standpoint. If slapstick humour is your thing, you'll enjoy the antics of the typically energetic duo. They waste no time getting down to their trademark hobbies of battering the living hell out of each other. It's a short-term treat to watch them run the hotel, and for a while it's great fun. The novelty is appealing, but the pair use up their best gags in the opening half hour.

The second part of the movie is spent chasing a lost cause as everything unravels in to a predictable farce. Not to spoil any further details, but the ending is very unsatisfactory although typical of the genre when you look at past translations to the big screen. The supporting cast is relatively unknown, and you won't be won over by an oscar deserving cameo appearance. Helene Mahieu is exceptionally beautiful as the pornstar Gina Carbonara, oozing an attractive charm but ultimately falling short in the acting departments. Admittedly, it was her first picture and she like everybody else was written as an afterthought. The success of Guest House Paradiso ultimately falls at the door of Edmondson and Mayall, and while they try their hardest, even these experienced comic legends can't pull it out of the fire.

I've always seen Edmondson in particular as a vastly under-utilized actor. Given a strong script, he could play a hugely entertaining cameo role in any major presentation. But with a low budget and ninety minutes of comedy pinned largely on a one dimensional character who was never meant to venture off of the live stageshow, hopes are high.

If you're a fan of Bottom, i certainly wouldn't warn you away from this movie. It's an amusing watch if you switch it on with low expectations. You won't be entirely pleased with the final action, but the early laughs- and make no mistake, they're big laughs- might be enough to make you feel as if you've gotten your money's worth.

As for DVD extras, you'll find an amusing production documentary featuring the stars of the show. It's always interesting, and alarming, to hear what the men behind Bottom have to say for themselves. They take us through a satisfying round-up of what went in to the movie and how some of the set pieces were put together. Not that you'll have been baffled by Matrix style special effects in the first place, but it's a nice touch.

You'll also find a nice out-takes reel, always a worthwhile watch and the DVD doesn't disappoint in that sense. For a budget production, the DVD features are acceptable and can generally pass off without any complaints.

Mayall and Edmondson have since stopped working with each other and we can say a final goodbye to their crazed brainchild. A fourth series of Bottom was rejected by the BBC and the pair have ventured in opposite directions. While Guest House Paradiso certainly isn't the pinnacle of their work together, it's an interesting venture and one which you might just enjoy.