The Raggedy Rawney *** (1987, Bob Hoskins, Dexter Fletcher, Zoë Nathenson, Zoë Wanamaker) – Classic Movie Review 5466

Co-writer/ director Bob Hoskins directs and stars in this 1987 British anti-war film, set in a European country in the midst of a bloody war.

It features Dexter Fletcher as an androgynous young soldier called Tom, who deserts the army and is discovered in female attire by gypsies, who take him to be a rawney, or female fortune-teller. Hoskins plays Darky.

It is a rather odd, sentimental, elusive fairy tale. But début director Hoskins conveys his enthusiasm infectiously, and he handles the set pieces – a wedding, a gypsy funeral – powerfully. The acting, as expected, is first rate.

Also in the cast are Zoë Nathenson, Zoë Wanamaker, David Hill, Ian Dury, Ian McNeice, Veronica Clifford, Gawn Grainger, J.G. Devlin and Jim Carter.

It runs 102 minutes, is made by HandMade Films, was released by Virgin, is written by Hoskins and Nicole De Wilde, is shot by Frank Tidy, is produced by Bob Weis, is scored by Michael Karmen and is designed by Jiri Matolin.

Fletcher played in Hoskins’s breakout film The Long Good Friday in 1980.

R.I.P. Bob Hoskins (1942-2014), who died of pneumonia at age 71: ‘He was fun, likable, generous, warm and clever,’ said Fletcher. ‘We worked together on The Long Good Friday. For me, as a child actor, it was an inspirational lesson in acting and one that will stay with me for ever.’

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5466

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