Adaptation (2002) set the grand standard for filming unfilmable books - and they don't come more unwieldy than Laurence Sterne's bawdy 18th-century novel Tristram Shandy. So, A Cock And Bull Story starts off with the filming of Tristram's life story, then moves on to the equally chaotic 'life' of the actor playing Shandy, Steve Coogan. Taking its cue from the novel, the film is speckled with interruptions, diversions and slyly knowing asides, all serving to further the story while seeming to destroy it. And the supporting cast, including Rob Brydon as 'himself' and Coogan's rival, Gillian (X-Files) Anderson, Stephen Fry and David Walliams, add to the riotous wit. Director Michael Winterbottom, screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce and Coogan have worked together before, on 24 Hour Party People; this has the same capacity for fun - and two centuries' worth of intellectual and artistic pretension to send up, instead of a mere decade.
Extras: Coogan/Brydon commentary and interview with Tony Wilson, whom Coogan played in 24 Hour Party People.
