Review: Bodywork (1999)

Bodywork

Rating

Director

Gareth Rhys Jones

Screenplay

Gareth Rhys Jones

Length

1h 32m

Starring

Hans Matheson, Charlotte Coleman, Wendy Cooper, Beth Winslet, Lynda Bellingham, Clive Russell, Michael Attwell, Peter Moreton

MPAA Rating

Review

PREFACE:
In the early 2000s, I was writing reviews for an outfit called Apollo Guide Reviews. That website has since been closed down.

Attempting to reconstruct those reviews has been an exercise in frustration. Having sent them to Apollo Guide via email on a server I no longer have access to (and which probably doesn’t have records going back that far), my only option was to dig through The Wayback Machine to see if I could find them there. Unfortunately, while I found a number of reviews, a handful of them have disappeared into the ether. At this point, almost two decades later, it is rather unlikely that I will find them again.

Luckily, I was able to locate my original review of this particular film. Please note that I was not doing my own editing at the time, Apollo Guide was. As such, there may be more than your standard number of grammatical and spelling errors in this review. In an attempt to preserve what my style had been like back then, I am not re-editing these reviews, which are presented as-is.

REVIEW:
The truth can be either known or unknown, but it remains the truth. Bodywork attempts to identify a truth known to only two people, the person who killed and the person who is accused of killing.

Virgil Guppy (Hans Matheson) is an insecure investment banker who can barely sell a stock, let alone sell himself. He purchases a car from a company run by father and son Buddy (Peter Moreton) and David (Michael Attwell) Lear. The car dies mere blocks away from the lot, leading Virgil to pursue a lawsuit against the Lears. Almost finding a spine, Virgil pursues them vigorously, hoping they will pay him for the car he bought. But when push comes to shove, they disappear.

Virgil’s girlfriend Fiona (Beth Winslet) and friend Alex Gordon (Peter Ferdinando) are apathetic but try to convince him that he will never see the money. That becomes the least of his problems when the police come knocking at his door regarding an unpleasant surprise that’s been discovered in the car’s trunk. Before long, Virgil finds himself on the run, hiding out with a “family” of car thieves. One of their number, Tiffany Shades (Charlotte Coleman), joins Virgil in a dark union of auto theft and love while the police actively pursue the young ‘criminal.’

Matheson is young, awkward and physically limited in his performance. This character is well suited to an actor of this style, but Virgil never really grows under his guidance. Coleman, on the other hand, who gained notoriety as the sarcastic friend in Four Weddings and a Funeral, is delightful. She plays her part with all the finesse and compassion that is necessary. Unfortunately, Moreton and Attwell deliver nothing more than embarrassing stereotypes, while Winslet has apparently learned little from her mesmerizing sister, Kate. Ferdinando doesn’t show particular skill, but fits his part as well or better than everyone else in the film.

This film’s message is perhaps less obvious than that of the typical British crime satire. There is a feeling throughout of desire being more important than truth. To that extent, Virgil takes his innocence and destroys it simply because he is perceived as guilty before trial.

Despite the questionable performances, Bodywork is an interesting film that contains some very funny and interesting moments. However, it is dragged down by its faulty premise and weak presentation. As a result, it never manages to elevate beyond direct-to-video fare.

Bodywork is deceptive. From its “sex sells” promotion to its gritty British façade, the film manages to capture and lose the audience’s imagination. Perhaps because of the success of Four Weddings and a Funeral and The Full Monty, British filmmakers believe that they can float their average ideas in a shallow pool and still expect them to sail into success. But even the less discriminating viewer can tell the difference between a cruise ship and a sinking dingy.