Rejoice! Stephen Fry's THE HIPPOPOTAMUS adaptation arrives on screen via John Jencks

Attention, please: For anyone who savors the English language in all its succulent, incisive, trippingly-off-the-tongue glory, Stephen Fry -- one of the great humorists of our time -- is back with an adaptation of his comic novel THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, brought to the screen by director John Jencks and a quartet of writers that includes Blanche McIntyre, Tom Hodgson, John Finnemore, and Robin Hill. It is, from first scene onward, a non-stop delight, one that Mr. Fry himself calls, "Frankly terrific. In fact, probably better than the original source material."

Not having read the novel (TrustMovies knows Fry best from his film and television work), I can only say that Mr. Jencks (shown at right) and his crew have captured Fry's sense of humor -- quirky, mad, inclusive, smart, satirical, and hugely funny -- quite well, and have managed to tell a rather complicated tale of mystery and miracles, life and death, creativity and sensuality, desire and need extremely well, drawing fine performances from a cast that includes actors both known and not-so on these shores, and a great one from the movie's leading man, Roger Allam, below, who would immediately become an "Oscar" contender in any just universe.

Mr. Allam portrays a "blocked" poet named Ted who has now morphed into a slovenly, cynical theater critic. One of the movie's early and juiciest scenes discovers him, drunk (as near-usual), sitting in a London theater observing a truly awful performance of Shakespeare by a no-talent director and his cast (shown below, chosen clearly for its looks and maybe fame, certainly not for its talent) that Allam's character rightly, loudly and vociferously -- in the very best Queen's English -- boos off the stage. This scene is so funny, shocking, intelligent and deserved that it immediately becomes a "classic."

Then Ted is asked by a dying member (Emily Berrington, below) of a family with whom he has long been involved to look into the occurrence of miracles on the family's estate. This he does, for payment of course, and soon he is chock-a-block in plots and schemes, all of which allow Mr. Fry (together with his adapters) to explore everything from religion and science to language and desire, which he does in his own surprising and commanding manner, which is then brought to great life by the assembled crew and cast.

This would include some folk we've often seen, for instance the wonderful Fiona Shaw (below, right, with Allam) and John Standing, along with some actors new to us but sure to be seen again soon, such as

a young fellow by the name of Tommy Knight (below), who plays a relative who may be key to these "miracles," and a young actress named Emma Curtis, who just might become the new subject for our miracle worker.

Along for the ride are such fun actors as Tim McInnery (below, left), playing an over-the-top theater director with major health problems, and Lyne Renee (below, right), in the role of Ms Curtis' sexy mother. Everyone from Russell Tovey to Geraldine Somerville to Matthew Modine make appearances here, and they're all just fine.

But mostly it's Mr. Allam, with his spot-on delivery of Mr. Fry-and-adapters' delightful dialog, that makes this movie such an amazement. You, as were we, are likely to come away from The Hippopotamus with a renewed appreciation of the English language -- and what can be achieved with it by folk who really know and care about what they're doing.

From Lightyear Entertainment and running a lean 89 minutes, the movie -- after playing around the country on the theatrical and "special engagement" circuit (two of its final stops are here in Coconut Grove and Naples, Florida, this coming Monday, July 31 at the Silverspot Cinemas) -- will make its debut on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital this Tuesday, August 1, for purchase and rental. However you choose to view, do make sure you see it.

Note: Once you've viewed the film, be sure to watch the wonderful Q&A included in the Blu-ray's Special Features (and as part of the theatrical program, too). It features actor Allam, the film's director and lead writer, and Stephen Fry himself. What they all have to say about the filmmaking process, transforming a novel into a movie, creativity, and how things get done (or don't) 

is very nearly as delightful and edifying as the film itself.

Stephen Fry explores music, fandom and guilt in Patrick McGrady's WAGNER & ME

Stephen Fry (on poster, foreground) is a delightful humorist, satirist and general wit; a gifted performer (Wilde, Bright Young Things -- which he also adapted and directed -- and  V for Vendetta), writer, director and manic depressive. He is also, as we quickly learn from the new documentary WAGNER & ME, a Jew and an enormous fan of Richard Wagner -- two things that are not always found in the same room. Adolf Hitler was also a big fan of the anti-semitic composer, and his "take" on Wagner's work smacks of the "master race" hoped for and then fought for by the Nazis in World War II. The documentary is Fry's attempt, abetted by the film's director, Patrick McGrady (shown below), to assuage what TrustMovies perceives to be Fry's guilt about this perhaps somewhat unusual pairing.

The movie is mostly Mr. Fry, all the way and all the time, and the man appears to be in a very "up" and rather proselytizing mood. He wants us to love (as much as he himself does) Wagner's music, along with the composer's ability to create some astounding operas, taking music into a heretofore unexplored realm. As creator and narrator, host and guide in this documentary, Fry seems in a quite jovial mood, and this is mostly contagious. After awhile, however, I longed for more of his usual distance, irony and wit -- little of which is to be found here. (Toward the beginning, though, he does amuse us by noting that, "You stand around waiting for a Valkyrie for hours -- and then they all come at once.")

As a Jew who lost family to the Holocaust, Fry's being torn between guilt about and love for Wagner's music earns our understanding and empathy. And so his taking us on a tour of the places most important to the musician -- Switzerland (with its beauty) to Bayreuth (where he built the theater that would house his work) to his patron Ludwig's famous Neuschwanstein castle (above) -- seem both appropriate and enjoyable. To a point.

Fry fingers Wagner's own piano (above: a gift to the composer from the Steinway company) in Bayreuth; travels to Russia, to a city nearly destroyed by the Nazis to interview an opera director more than willing to perform Wagner; then meets the composer's great grand-daughters, two sisters who are now in charge of the annual Wagner festival -- one of whom will have nothing to do with Fry's little "ode to posterity."

Often dressed in bright red slacks and yellow shirt, Fry provides almost as visually interesting a view as he does intellectually. "What is it about Wagner's music," he asks us, "which inspires someone" (Hitler, Ludwig) "to seize on his stories and ideas -- which belong in the theater -- and seek to give them substance in the real world instead?"  Well, yes, but wouldn't Wagner have been delighted at that outcome? Did he not fully believe in what he created? Fry muses about the music inspiring us to tear down the boundaries separating fact and fantasy, and how Wagner's work is like some great, gorgeous and complex tapestry that has been irretrievably stained.

Are we, Fry wonders, looking at Wagner's work only through Hitler's viewfinder? Doubtful. In a particularly thoughtful few moments, Fry visits an Auschwitz survivor who played in the famous orchestra there made up of Jewish prisoners. Her thoughts on music and Wagner are most interesting. So, does our hero manage to reach some level of accommodation with his Wagner love and his Jewish heritage? Maybe.

In any case, his final remarks -- which I will not give away here -- may break your heart because, if you love this composer's work, you would so much wish that they were true.

Wagner & Me opens -- after playing in Chicago last week -- this Friday, December 7, in New York City at the Quad Cinema and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. In the weeks to come it will play in another half dozen cities. You can click here to see all currently scheduled playdates, with cities and theaters. (And that's the gifted anti-semite himself, shown above.)