Wilt 1989 Based on a novel Wilt by Tom Sharpe, screenplay by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick, directed by Micheal Tuchner. The film was called The Misadventures Of Mr Wilt in the US. There are 4 sequels to the novel. I read the novel in the mid 80s and thought it was entertaining, I didn't see the film until April 1994. That would have been on VHS. I finally got a DVD last week when I ordered a copy from Network, it's part of their The British Film series.
Griff Rhys Jones is a teacher at a community college who gets messed up in a murder investigation. Allison Steadman is his wife, Mel Smith is the police detective who thinks Griff killed his wife and stuffed her into a hole in a building site. In their off screen life Griff and Mel started Talkback in 1981 to produce TV programs, they sold it in 2000. The company still produces some good programs, the top for me is QI. They also produced Never Mind The Buzzcocks. I just finished that series recently and it's sure fun to watch.
Mel is a poor policeman, he's not clever and he's not observant, Griff is smarter but he's a bit of an idiot and self absorbed, so it takes a while to sort out what happened. Much of the story that put Griff in handcuffs is told in flashback form. There's evidence that Griff could have done in his misses and Mel isn't believing Griff's alibi. We know Griff's wife is mad at him and she's run off with another couple. They've gotten stranded on a sandbar with their boat and neither party knows where the other is or what they're doing.
It's a good bit slapsticky but there are some fairly good gags and goofy characters. I like the cast. The story moves along nicely and there's plenty of activity. If you like drier British comedy, you might like this one. You can check it out on YouTube, link above.
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