Confetti - DVD review

27 September 2006 11:00 GMT / By Dan Hall

Determined to rescue bridal magazine “Confetti” from a recent slump in sales, publisher Antoni (Carr) runs a “Most Original Wedding of the Year” competition with a £500,000 dream home first prize. The grand finalists are old-fashioned romantics Matt (Freeman) and Samantha (Stevenson), hard-nosed professional tennis players Josef (Mangan) and Isabelle (MacNeill), and amateur naturists Michael (Webb) and Joanna (Colman). Aided by professional planners Heron & Hough (Franklin and Watkins) the happy couples set about arranging their perfect weddings, but as the big day approaches “Confetti” editor Vivienne (Montagu) realises she can’t put a pair of nudists on the magazine’s front cover and decides to rig the vote…

Following the same improvised, fly-on-the-wall style as “Spinal Tap” this British mockumentary from Debbie “Nasty Neighbours” Isitt has its tongue firmly planted in its cheek. But whereas Christopher Guest’s 1984 classic went all the way up to 11, “Confetti” probably only reaches about a four or a five on the same scale.

As you would expect from a film that was 100% improvised there is mass of footage that failed to make the final cut, and over an hour of this material can be found in the special features package. This includes three alternative endings, which see each of the couples triumphing in the “Wedding of the Year”. And, without giving too much away, it is nice to see the pair who everyone really wanted to win getting their moment of glory - even if it is ruined by yet more irritating flouncing from Franklin and Watkins. Sadly, however, there is no commentary from Isitt who would surely have provided a more interesting talk-track than usual due to her unusual filming techniques. Annoyingly, there are no cast interviews either.

Verdict

The combination of bonkers plot developments (Samantha turns from tone-deaf “X-Factor” reject to angelic warbler in minutes), crude stereotypes (gay wedding planners? How original!) and the repetition of the same “Michael takes his clothes off, no-one knows where to look” jokes are a marriage made in hell.

However, Jimmy Carr raises a few decent laughs as the unscrupulous magazine publisher and Stephen “Green Wing” Mangan steals the show with a string of classic one-liners like: “Please get it into your thick head how much I respect you!”

The film is produced by a company called “wasted talent”, and when you realise that the cast includes stars from the excellent British comedies “Peep Show”, “The Office” and “I’m Alan Partridge” it’s difficult not to agree.

Rating: 15
Staring: Martin Freeman, Jessica Stevenson, Stephen Mangan, Meredith MacNeill, Robert Webb, Olivia Colman, Vincent Franklin, Jason Watkins, Jimmy Carr, Alison Steadman, Felicity Montagu
Directed by: Debbie Isitt
Extras: 3 alternative endings!, '4 Weeks To Go' featurette (25 mins), '2 Weeks To Go' featurette (21 mins), '1 Week1 To Go' featurette (23 mins)

Score

Review Recap

Made by: Comedy
Price as reviewed: £20
The good: Mangan’s foul-mouthed improvisational skills, Tim from The Office playing … Tim from The Office, a hefty portion of good old-fashioned nudity
The bad: The sappy ending, gay stereotypes, a lacklustre extras package
Quick verdict: The combination of bonkers plot developments, crude stereotypes and the repetition of the same jokes are a marriage made in hell
Score