Sixty Six - 24th April 2012

Tuesday Night is Film Night rumbles on with the bitter sweet British comedy;

Sixty Six

The film follows the story of Bernie Rubens and the build up to his Barmitzvah, which looks set to be a disaster when it coincides with the 1966 World Cup Final.

A cracking cast, led by the young Gregg Sulkin, who plays Bernie, make this film a real belter. Helena Bonham-Carter plays Bernie's Mother; Esther Rubens and his Father; Manny Rubens is played by the fantastic Eddie Marsan.

I will just clarify the "fantastic" superlative prefixing Eddie Marsan in the previous sentence. I have not been aware of any of Eddie Marsan's work, but in Sixty Six, he is absolutely fantastic as the long faced, slow and steady, Jewish patriarch.

Completing the central cast we have the delightful Catherine Tate and the very funny and versatile Peter Serafinowicz, who play Bernie's aunt and uncle; Lila and Jimmy.

So, typically Bernie is a bit of a hopeless case, always last to be picked for the football team. (A cracking opening scene depicts this). However, it is soon to be his Barmitzvah, and he will become a man. He starts planning a great celebration, that will overshadow his elder brothers' Barmitzvah. It will be bigger and better, more guests, better presents, better music etc. etc.

However, things do not go to plan and a series of events collude to ruin Bernie's big day. Not least of which the day of his Barmitzvah will clash with the World Cup final, although England won't make it to the final........... or will they?

The film is certainly a comedy, with some really brilliantly funny scenes, all credit to the writer Paul Weiland for those, but it is also dramatic and sad, Eddie Marsan providing pathos by the bucketload, in his role as Bernie's suffering Dad.

Sixty Six is your typical British comedy of recent years, but that's not a bad thing, there have been some great British comedies recently and this is certainly one of them, although it may have been overlooked, which is a real shame as it is a really charming film, with a fantastic story which underpins the layers of comedy and tradegy.

A really great film, watch it when you can.