Clockwise
"Delicious Comedy! Cleese Plays It To The Hilt!" -The Washington Post
Mr. Brian Stimpson ran his life -- and everyone else's -- by the clock. Then one day at 2:09 and 43 seconds...
The clock decided to strike back.
In this hilarious comedy hit written by Michael Frayn (Noises Off), John Cleese stars as the compulsively punctual headmaster of a British high school. But on the day Stimpson is to give a major speech at a posh teachers conference, he finds himself in a frantic cross-country chase filled with missed trains, confused cops, strange monks, odd old ladies and stolen clothes. Can Stimpson make up for precious lost time or is the entire world conspiring to make him late for the most important appointment of his life?
Member Reviews
The unravelling of Principal Simpson - luminol
There's a really exquisite beginning. Everything you need to know about our hero (John Cleese) is totally nailed down and bolted into place during the opening sequence. This is a man who has found his niche career-wise---and in life as a high school Principal. Ensconced in his office with his trusty binoculars, he can ferret out the tiniest of transgressions in the simmering chaos in the courtyards beneath him.
I actually imagined being a child in such a school and shuddered at the thought of such horrid state of affairs. Perhaps the collective cries of outrage and secret prayers of the children have reached the gates of heaven and the Gods have decided intervene on their behalf, since his undoing involves an almost Olympian level of timed and orchestrated (dare I say, clockwork?) happenstance.
He leaves School early one day to receive an honour during the annual conference of British Principals in another town. There's a rigid class system in England---not that anyone born to a knock-about life has to stay there, upward mobility is possible, but everyone is conscious of their origins in society. So being appointed chairmen and the key note speaker at this conference, rather than an empty and pompous gesture, is actually a great honour, him being from a lowly public school.
The downside? The film is completely subtle in that it relies on visual irony and ironic characterization to work it's message. Case in point; there's a small scene where a Matron strolls down a peaceful country road in the middle of a wheat field. Principal Simpson and a student jog past her to on their way to the car. What the woman saw, of course, was a young woman fleeing for her life and a sex starved monk bounding after her. The kerfuffle that started all this is repeated at the end, implying another movie is about to begin.You'll Find Yourself Clock Watching - Mookie
This is a bad comedy. It is bad because it didn't make me laugh, because the storylines had no clear resolution, because it wasn't even an interesting premise. Cleese does his best but the material is so poor that there are no laughs to be had.
Cleese plays a Headmaster who is very punctual and runs a tight school - why not play that for laughs and show some amusing situations? He needs to be at important meeting where he must give a speech but gets on the wrong train by mistake. From there hilarity was supposed to ensue, but never did. Yes, they try to set up amusing situations but all of them fall flat. But along the way he gets a female student to drive him, accidentally steals gas, gets reported for kidnapping the student, his wife thinks he is cheating on her, gets reported for kidnapping a different women they meet, steals a car, and waiting for him at the finish line is the faculty member who actually IS having an affair with the student. I explain all this because you would have to assume all this is building up to a riproaring conclusion of chaos and and finally explanations. But no...it all ends with a whimper. No resolution. all the story-lines they have been building up just lie there untouched at the end.
This is all the more disappointing because the writer is the same man who wrote the hilarious play "Noises Off". I think he is a writer who can write for the stage but not the movies, because none of the magic of that play is seen here (or in the movie version of "Noises Off" for that matter).
Member Reviews
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The unravelling of Principal Simpson - luminol
There's a really exquisite beginning. Everything you need to know about our hero (John Cleese) is totally nailed down and bolted into place during the opening sequence. This is a man who has found his niche career-wise---and in life as a high school Principal. ...You'll Find Yourself Clock Watching - Mookie
This is a bad comedy. It is bad because it didn't make me laugh, because the storylines had no clear resolution, because it wasn't even an interesting premise. Cleese does his best but the material is so poor that there are no laughs to be had.
Cleese ...