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We’ve got Operation Mincemeat fever and tonight watched the 2021 movie. I am glad that we didn’t watch this first as I don’t think there would be a chance that we’d have gone to see the musical. Amazing to see such different takes on the same subject, one joyous, modern, moving and hilarious and the other boring, old-fashioned and turgid. The funniest thing in this film was my wife commenting that Tom from Succession had a really good English accent. Which is a testament to the brilliance of Matthew McFadyen. Who can be sure if he’s a Brit with a great American accent or an American with a great British accent? No one.
Two Mr Darcy’s combined to try and win the affection of the 15 year old girl from Transporting that Ewan Macgregor sleeps with before he finds out she’s a schoolgirl (and what a different place the 90s was, where this was played for laughs rather than a sex crime). Two competing Mr Darcy’s trying to get off with the 15 year old from Transporting would have been a much better film though. Because even though Kelly Macdonald was now playing a grown up, divorced woman, it still seemed fairly inappropriate for Colin Firth to be trying to get off with her, looking, as he does now, like a pretty old man. Apparently he’s only about 15 years older than her though, so I can’t really criticise him.
What was really inappropriate though was turning the exciting story of wartime duplicity into a made up love triangle. There’s a little hint of flirtation in the musical, but it’s not reciprocated by the younger woman and also the action revolves around how little the women were appreciated for their work. Turning Jean Leslie into little more than a love interest devalues her. Especially given this is entirely made up.
And it meant that Ewen and Charles were at odds for most of the film, because they both fancied the same woman. The bromance in the musical is terrific and means the suspicion that one of them might be a spy more troublesome and conflicting. Ultimately the whole thing is just too grave and serious (and apparently there was much humour in the real life version) The musical may be tongue-in-cheek and cartoonish but it’s a million times better than the film and tells the story much more effectively too.
I was glad to see Ruby Bentall from You Can Choose Your Friends in it though. Ruby by the Kaiser Chiefs was a big hit when we were filming, so that became the song of the filming.
My interview with the secret embargoed guest went well. I made a couple of embarrassing mistakes and got a bit lost in one of my points, but I think I got away with it. The mystery will be revealed in a couple of weeks. It sounds more exciting than it is, but I was still very excited to virtually meet this person. One of the joys of the podcast is getting 45 minutes to an hour of one to one chat with some of the most interesting people in the country and sometimes the world.
Some more guest announcements for the next run of RHLSTP can be found in
this month’s newsletter, plus all the confirmed stand up try outs
