We all know that comedy is an acquired taste and what appeals to one person will not necessarily appeal to someone else. This isn't how it's always been (the way that Hancock could empty the streets etc. when his shows were on for example) but it's becoming more of an issue now as TV comedy ... Read review
Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Advantages: Another slice of Bottom Disadvantages: Goes just that little bit too far at times
We all know that comedy is an acquired taste and what appeals to one person will not necessarily appeal to someone else. This isn't how it's always been (the way that Hancock could empty the streets etc. when his shows were on for example) but it's becoming more of an issue now as TV comedy fragments and is forced to appeal to groups rather than the nation as a whole. This is not however a discussion about the evolving face of British TV comedy (thank ... ...Some love, some loath and it seems that the violent antics of Richie and Eddie aren't something that you can't just take or leave. This of course sets you up for what is the Bottom big screen outting.
Sad hotel manager Richard Twat (pronounced 'Thwaite') and his mentally retarded best mate Edward Elizabeth Ndingombaba run what is the worst hotel in Britain. A vile, dirty, run down seaside holiday retreat situated right next to a nuclear ... more
We all know that comedy is an acquired taste and what appeals to one person will not necessarily appeal to someone else. This isn't how it's always been (the way that Hancock could empty the streets etc. when his shows were on for example) but it's becoming more of an issue now as TV comedy fragments and is forced to appeal to groups rather than the nation as a whole. This is not however a discussion about the evolving face of British TV comedy (thank God). A good exponent of the problem though is Bottom. Some love, some loath and it seems that the violent antics of Richie and Eddie aren't something that you can't just take or leave. This of course sets you up for what is the Bottom big screen outting.
Sad hotel manager Richard Twat (pronounced 'Thwaite') and his mentally retarded best mate Edward Elizabeth Ndingombaba run what is the worst hotel in Britain. A vile, dirty, run down seaside holiday retreat situated right next to a nuclear power station. But they do have guests though. Somehow. Into the mix comes beautiful movie star Gina Carbonara, desperate to avoid marrying her obnoxious fiance Gino. With such a world famous star (and jugtastic babe) staying with them, surely Richie and Eddie can provide her with a banquet fit for a queen. Well with chef having sodded off after eating all the food, chances are against it. But wait, what's this? A cache of fish just lying by the side of the road?
Unlike the dreadful TV to movie transfers of the 70's, what is effectively the Bottom movie is a full blown Hollywood affair...but it's British made. I say 'effectively' the Bottom movie as you may have noticed the subtle name changes. That however is just about all that has changed. Yes the action now takes place in a hotel rather than a grotty little flat in Hammersmith but this is Bottom through and through.
Anyone aware of the TV show knows very much what to expect but if you're not aware of the TV show then what can you hope to find? Mayall and Edmondson's brand of humour is, to put it lightly, violent. Their characters live in a world of swearing, depravity, sexual frustration, and the very worst that life has to offer. Richie with his social climbing aspirations and Eddie with his...err...alcohol problem. Both are crude characters but then again, the entire Bottom setup is a very crude one. That doesn't make it a bad one but you have to be prepared for it.
Guest House Paradiso assumes no knowledge of Bottom the TV series but is obviously aimed at fans. It IS the same sense of humour and it IS the same characters. It makes no assumptions about whether you're a die hard fan, a casual viewer, or if you've even heard of it. Yes fans will pick up little extra bits and pieces here and there but it incorporates no running gags, no catchphrases etc. Unlike the dreadful 70's TV/movie efforts, Guest House Paradiso starts out blank but doesn't need to spend time developing/introducing the characters and/or setup. They're just two sad one dimensional pervies who enjoy hitting each other. It's simple, it's crude, it works.
As a story though, Guest House Paradiso is a little bit lacking and feels like an extended Comic Strip Presents... concept. It's all very much secondary though but that's really no excuse. The characters have never been big on story and that's not what they're about. Guest House Paradiso can be seen as a none stop series of fart and knob gags with a few characters thrown in to act as the catalyst for the mindless violence to follow. They're the starting point from which Richie and Eddie springboard off of. Which is why when it tries it's hand at story it seems to fail.
When the 'story' kicks in, Richie and Eddie (the focus of the film) become relegated and that scuppers the film's chances of being great. In an attempt to give the film more, they damage the one thing that makes the film what it is. A huge overblown ending is too much and heads far too far down the street marked 'stupidity'. As when Bottom goes stupid it loses it's vicious bite (and becomes...well stupid), so does Guest House Paradiso suffer from the same problem. Which is a shame as it is very funny up until that point.
With the film focusing so heavily on Richie and Eddie it's essential that it landed Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall - it simply couldn't work with anyone else. But Rik and Ade do more than just star as the pair also write and Edmondson directs. As for their performances then...it's exactly what we've come to expect. They know what they're doing and they know each other well enough to let their genuine chemistry show through. It would be easy for the pair to simply overshadow everyone else but despite a below par showing by Steve O'Donnel, the cast do a great job. Helene Mahieu is fabulously sexy as Gina and perhaps her beauty is merely enhanced by the squallor around . Whatever though, she does a great job and certainly seems to enjoy herself enormously.
Simon Pegg puts in a decent performance as Mr Nice and he gets a chance to show what he can do. A little comedy turn by Fenella Fielding is notable rather than brilliant and O'Donnell aside, there's very little to find fault with.
Edmondson and Mayall have created a script that delivers exactly what their fans want - whether it delivers what non-fans want is another matter. Edmondson's direction gets the pacing frenetic enough but as to whether it's enjoyable or not is another matter.
Bottom fans may feel a little bit cheated but should find much to enjoy none the less. There are many laughs to be had but it depends what exactly appeals to you. This is especially true of non-fans who may still find their antics to be far too juvenile. It does run out of steam and go off the rails towards the end (i.e. when the 'story' comes into effect) but it's worth a look - especially for the fans.
I found it hilarious at stages and there are some real comic gems to be found here. Whether others will or not still hinges on whether or not you find their humour funny
Thirty years ago, the archetypal rock and roll guitar slinger, Dave Edmunds, blessed the world with a solo album stylishly titled 'Subtle As A Flying Mallet'. Now that would have been a pretty wonderful subtitle for 'Guest House Paradiso', the cinematic debut of Rik Mayall and Ade Edmundson's 'Bottom' wonderworld, except it wouldn't have been a flying mallet in the title, it would have been a flying toilet, because in truth the humour of the Mayall ... ...the water closet.
If you've never happened by the particular worldview of our fine, foul mouthed force (and there may actually be one or two deprived souls out there), the talent of Ade and Rik lies in updating the sort of slapstick made very popular by the comedians of the silent cinema with their own extremely individual brand of malice aforethought.
And what the pair unashamedly serve up their audience here is a straight, but very riotous, recreation ...
dave27 21.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Guesthouse Paradiso
Advantages: Has a certain nostalgic humour. Disadvantages: Dated drivel
In my review of ‘Beowulf’ I may have intimated that it was the worst film that I had ever seen, I should have known better. No matter how bad a film is, there will be a worse one along in a moment, and this is it.
‘Guest House Paradiso’, directed by Ade Edmonson, starring Ade Edmonson and Rik Mayall, is an hour and a half of violent, lavatorial behaviour, unencumbered by any perceptible plotline or moment of real humour.
... ...as it is, revolves around Richard Twat, pronounced Thwaite, (Mayall) and his assistant, Eddie (Edmonson) as the proprietors of the cheapest and worst guest house in Britain. Sited on an unnamed windswept coast, alongside a leaky nuclear power station, Guest House Paradiso attracts only the poor and the desperate. As Twat’s only ambition in life is to insult, humiliate and rob his guests, they are few and far between; so when the waiter is incarcerated ...
baddog 20.11.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Guesthouse Paradiso
Advantages: Bottom meets Fawlty Towers,eeerrrmm, I'll have to get back to you Disadvantages: It's been done before, can make you feel sick
Genre- Black comedy (not just because of the type of film it is, but because black is also the colour of the sheets in the hotel- well they could be).
Length- Approx 1hr 40 mins
Produced by- Universal Pictures
Cast
Rik Mayll- Richie Twat (It’s Thwaite!)
Adrian (Ade) Edmonson- Edward Hitler
Simon Pegg (Spaced)- Angry guest
Plot
For those of you who have seen Bottom and before that The Young Ones, you will be familiar with the antics ... ...after stealing a tape of the Prime Minister in a scandalous encounter, they attempted to blackmail him, only to be gunned down by an armed task force (a little over the top, but then again so was the violence).
In this film we see them kind of resurrected. They appeared to have moved up in the world, well instead of a grotty flat, they own a grotty hotel/guest house.
There guests mainly include eloping and ‘common law’ couples, and ...
sirmitchalot 29.08.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Guesthouse Paradiso
Advantages: If you are a Bottom fan then you won't want to miss. Disadvantages: Not as good as the 'usual' Ritchie and Eddie capers and stupidity.
I am an avid Bottom fan. Since the days of The Young One's I have always enjoyed the humour of Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmundson. I couldn't wait to see this film and it left me with mixed feelings. I neither thought it was better than the series or worse. I am a little disappointed but not enough to say it was rubbish! It takes place in a totally different setting. They are the proprietors of a guest house right on top of a cliff overlooking the sea. ... ...we are not told is why they are in this position. I mean, how did they end up at this location from living as 2 poor blokes in a run down flat? Although Eddie looks the same, Ritchie looks much older. Are we to think that this is the pair a few years on? I think it should have made this clear. Anyway, many scenes are the usual Eddie and Ritchie 'Bottom' humour but at the same time many scenes were not funny at all. My boyfriend and I have 2 very ...
carolinesite 04.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Guesthouse Paradiso
this film is extremely funny especially if you are a bloke. i say this because we went to see it with my mates and my girl friend and their girl friend and by the end of it all of the lads were laughing their heads of and all of the girls were practically being sick! this could have something to do with the characters actually being sick on stage but there you go! anyway,this film is defitnetly worth a look for anyone that wants a laugh and is well ...
steveymacca 23.09.2000
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There's not exactly a warm welcome from one of the nastiest hotel managers since Mr Twat (pronounced Thwaite) in GuesthouseParadiso, who gleefully tells them that it's the end of the season so there are going to be few other blessed souls to put a hold on the slasher's fun...
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Advantages: Entertaining Disadvantages: A little too adult in places compared to previous offerings
. Adrian went on to direct the whole film so he could put it across the way he wanted it, rather than it be shown by someone else’s preconceived ideas of Eddie and Richie’s characters. According to Adrian, he wants to become a full time director when his acting days are over.
As a little “I never knew that”, Did you know that Guest-HouseParadiso was filmed in it’s entirety on the Isle of Wight? The Nuclear plant in the film is actually a computer generated graphic.
MAKING OF DOCUMENTARY
This is an excellent insight into the chaos behind the scenes that spawned G.P. There is a whole thirty minutes of film here. Most of your questions will be answered as long as they involve what kind of research went into finding the best type of throwing up sick. There is about five minutes dedicated to VOMIT.
There ...
Advantages: Mindless Comedy Violence Disadvantages: Childish, poor effects and amateurish
I said at the start, if you are looking for a complete no-brainer to relieve the boredom and maybe cause a giggle or two if you share my warped sense of humour, this is the video for you. For those with more intellect, stick with Bottom and The Young Ones.
Rik is the more vocal of the two throughout the video and it seems that Adrian is the stunt man. This was the stage of their career where they practised the art of hitting each other rather amusingly. If you watch the 30-minute “making of” documentary on the GuesthouseParadiso DVD, Adrian makes the statement that they have now got to the forefront of hitting each other rather amusingly.
The video is 77 minutes in length. I can’t tell you the price, as it is only available on the second hand market so it could cost anything. You may as well keep your eyes open ...
Production Year: 2000 - Comedy - Director: David Raynr - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, Shane West, Marla Sokoloff, James Franco, Colin Hanks, Christine Lakin, Aaron Paul
