Sixty Six (DVD)

All Bernie wants is to be noticed. He's picked last for sports at school, is forgotten at the seaside by his family and is always in his older brother Alvie's shadow. So with his bar mitzvah coming up he finally thinks it's time for his moment in the spotlight. So he plans everything with military precision from venues down to streamers. But then he discovers his party will clash with the 1966 World Cup final. No-one expects England to get past the ...
...the competition progresses, Bernie watches his celebration diminish in size. While the rest of the country is willing the team on to glory at Wembley, Bernie is praying for their downfall…

Based on what happened to his bar mitzvah, "Mr Bean" director Peter Weiland, ably recreates the mid-sixties in this warm and gentle family comedy. It isn't "Swinging London" we see, but the deeply conservative suburbs where there's ... more

All Bernie wants is to be noticed. He's picked last for sports at school, is forgotten at the seaside by his family and is always in his older brother Alvie's shadow. So with his bar mitzvah coming up he finally thinks it's time for his moment in the spotlight. So he plans everything with military precision from venues down to streamers. But then he discovers his party will clash with the 1966 World Cup final. No-one expects England to get past the first round, let alone go all the way. But as the competition progresses, Bernie watches his celebration diminish in size. While the rest of the country is willing the team on to glory at Wembley, Bernie is praying for their downfall…

Based on what happened to his bar mitzvah, "Mr Bean" director Peter Weiland, ably recreates the mid-sixties in this warm and gentle family comedy. It isn't "Swinging London" we see, but the deeply conservative suburbs where there's less shagging and more shagpile. Visually the movie is very faithful to the period, as you can see from the cine-film footage that runs over the end credits, taken from Weiland's brother's bar mitzvah that has been recreated elsewhere in the movie. There is a certain amount of sepia-toned (or perhaps tobacco-stained) nostalgia about the film. I suspect this is because the director feels an obvious affection for the characters (unsurprisingly considering they are based on his relatives and family friends) and yearns for the simpler times of his childhood. This makes the film rather gentle in its approach - there are no scenes of big conflict and it always feels personal. As a result you empathise with the players and laugh with them rather than at them. I don't generally like voice-over narration unless it's in film noir. But here it helps to establish Bernie's personality and background quickly and often plays against the action to comic effect. While the rest of the country is spurring England on, he is the voice of sulky dissent.

The gag ratio is surprisingly high, especially in the montages that show Manny's neuroses and Bernie's misfortunes. There's a rather dark streak running through the jokes as the World Cup final looms and Bernie becomes increasingly desperate for England to lose. Watch as he uses black magic in a last ditch attempt to seal the team's fate. The gags work because Weiland keeps them snappy and he isn't afraid to throw them away, so they come thick and fast. However, some aspects like the bumbling blind rabbi feel like gags at someone's expense. Nonetheless it is a diverting movie that entertains throughout its ninety-four minute running time and you don't have to be Jewish to find it amusing.

The screenplay by first-timers Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan is an affectionate piece of writing that manages to nail the selfishness of youth without making Bernie a hateful character. I think the key to this is their use of humour that manages to wring a gag out of just about every situation in the catalogue of misfortunes that is the Reuben family's life. A large part of this is down to the often wry narration by Bernie. It helps to engage you with him because you understand where all the pent-up frustration is coming from. You also get to see the mental film of his ideal bar mitzvah. So you know what his ambitions are and can understand why the family's diminishing circumstances feel like a personal affront. When it comes to the characters, Bernie is the only truly three-dimensional one in the whole film. But I suppose everyone else is seen through his eyes. So his brother is just the usual nasty older sibling that delights in torturing him. His mother is little more than the archetypal Jewish housewife, his Uncle Jimmy the gregarious joker and his Aunty Lila defined solely by her inability to cook. The Rabbi though is a one-trick pony that appears only as a sight-gag in a yarmulke. His father is slightly more complex, but is mainly about his neuroses and pride. But at least the script leaves room for the actor to flesh him out. The pacing throughout is swift and there are gags aplenty to keep things going. Though much of the humour is based on sight gags, there are a few zingy one-liners like "That's the thing about being a Jew. You don't have a foreskin so you have to have a lot of balls to make up for it."

Eddie Marsan exudes gloom as Bernie's neurotic father Manny. He scuffles about with his head bent as the bad luck magnet waits for the next catastrophe to befall him. It's one of those quiet internalised performance where you can see the man slowly crumpling inside, just by looking at his eyes. Marsan showcases lovely comic timing in his understated performance, especially in his little displays of obsessive compulsive disorder, where he leaves just the right amount of time between checking and re-checking things.

Newcomer Gregg Sulkin is a good fit for the part of Bernie - he's at that gawky age where he hasn't yet grown into his face and he's painfully scrawny. The Joe 90 specs add to the geeky look. He also has that teenage self-absorption married with a sense of the showman. So he looks equally at home whether bemoaning the fate of his party, or indulging in fantasies about how great his bar mitzvah will be. He has good comic timing and seems to have a real bond with the people playing his family. He's also very good a playing the victim, without realising how selfish he's being.

Helena Bonham-Carter certainly looks the part as Bernie's mother; every inch the perfect Jewish housewife. However, having seen her play so many English roses, it's very difficult to buy into her in that particular role. It always feels like a performance and often a caricatured one at that. Peter Serafinowicz showcases his comic talents as Uncle Jimmy, who is everything Manny is not; tall, charming, smooth and funny. Small screen comedienne Catherine Tate plays it mainly straight as Bernie's Aunty Lila, swapping catchphrases for a little depth. Stephen Rea is perhaps underused as Bernie's friendly, football-mad doctor. He does little more than leave a vague warmth behind him.

The score by Joby Talbot uses the full orchestra in various arrangements. The nostalgia for childhood is summed up by Music box-like piano motifs and strumming guitars and Bernie's bar mitzvah daydreams are generally accompanied by harp and tambourine engagements that suggest a certain magic. The tempo is kept up by insistent percussion and the sentiment is layered on with syrupy piano sections with flutes and violins when things get a bit tricky. The soundtrack includes the rather more sedate end of the musical spectrum from the period including "What a Day for a Daydream", an instrumental version of "Downtown", "Monie, Monie" and "Walking Back to Happiness". All the selections suit the mood of the film, but the odd dash of oomph might not have gone amiss.

"Sixty Six" is an endearing Sunday afternoon movie that sums up how it feels to have your own aspirations overshadowed. It's funny, sweet and self-deprecating. It may not quite fill the big screen, but I suspect it will find its true home on DVD. 

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