Fido (2006) d. Currie, Andrew (Canada)
Director/co-writer Currie deserves full marks for attempting to do something new with the ubiquitous flesh-eating zombie, and while he fails to match the zom-com-rom bar set by Shaun of the Dead, his Technicolored vision of an alternate 1950s (think Douglas Sirk meets George Romero) provides more than a few laughs, with its undead heart in just the right place.
Following the “Zombie Wars,” revived corpses have become domesticated thanks to a impulse-blocking collar, now serving communities as menial laborers and even viewed as social status symbols. K’Sun Ray offers up a winning performance as a lonely boy who finds friendship in the rotting eyes of his family’s newly acquired zombie, engagingly played by Scottish actor Billy Connolly. But when Connelly’s collar malfunctions, the ensuing mayhem raises the suspicions of next-door neighbor and security head Henry Czerny.
While deliberately painted in a two-dimensional fashion, the splendid cast finds a myriad of shadings to enliven their characters, with standout performances by Dylan Baker as Ray’s timid, intimacy-challenged father, Tim Blake Nelson who carries on a lascivious relationship with his zombie bimbo (a “zombo”?), and Carrie-Anne Moss as Baker’s affectionate wife who finds love in the unlikeliest of places.
A splendid mix of belly laughs, warm fuzzies and limb-tearing pandemonium.
I really like Fido. It reminded me a lot of Pleasantville. And there was extra fun to be had from hearing Billy Connolly make his classic drunkard noises and turn them into zombie sounds.
ReplyDeleteWell, here's the funny thing: While I was aware of Connolly when I first saw FIDO, I didn't really know him as a comic actor. The only thing I'd seen him in was the Judi Dench film MRS. BROWN, and while he's irreverent in that, he's not really doing his patented schtick.
DeleteBut yeah, I liked the film a lot as well. I wish every zombie movie was trying to do something as original as this.
He may have gone off the boil in recent years, but he'll always be a national treasure to us Scots for his stand up material from the '70s through to the start of the 21st century. Some absolutely classic shows. If you ever have time then check out the likes of Billy & Albert or An Audience With Billy Connolly (I will help with translation).
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