The Revengers’ Comedies [Sweet Revenge] ** (1998, Sam Neill, Helena Bonham Carter, Kristin Scott Thomas, Rupert Graves, Martin Clunes, Steve Coogan) – Classic Movie Review 8928

Writer-director Malcolm Mowbray’s 1998 comedy The Revengers’ Comedies [Sweet Revenge] stars Sam Neill, Helena Bonham Carter, Kristin Scott Thomas, Rupert Graves, Martin Clunes, Steve Coogan, Anita Dobson, John Wood, Liz Smith, Charlotte Coleman and Adrian Scarborough.

This black comedy, based on the hit play by the astoundingly gifted and clever Alan Ayckbourn, has a great cast and some typically amusing examples of his acid wit. But, as a film, it is a talky, shaky, low-energy production, transferring uneasily to the screen.

Sam Neill and Helena Bonham Carter play depressed businessman Henry Bell and aristocratic Karen Knightly, a suicidal couple, about to jump off London’s Tower Bridge, whose pact to swap revenge murders goes awry when Henry falls for his intended victim, Karen’s enemy Imogen Staxton-Billing (Kristin Scott Thomas).

Also in the cast are Sandra Reinton, Zoe Hilson, Jamie O’Brien, François Domange and Dicken Ashworth.

The Revengers’ Comedies is directed by Malcolm Mowbray, runs 86 minutes, is made by Artisan Films, Arts Council of England, British Broadcasting Corporation, France 2 Cinéma, Canal+, IMA Productions, J&M Entertainment, Sofica Créations, Sofinergie 4 and Showtime, is released by J&M Entertainment (1998) and Miramax, is written by Malcolm Mowbray, based on Alan Ayckbourn’s play, is shot in Technicolor by Romain Wonding, is produced by Simon Bosanquet, is scored by Alexandre Desplat, and is deigned by Stuart Walker.

It is rated PG-13 for some language, sex-related material, and violence.

Graves plays Bonham Carter’s brother as he did in A Room with a View (1985).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8928

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