After the science fiction adaptation High Rise and the action comedy Free Fire, Ben Wheatley returned to his more low-key roots with 2018's Happy New Year, Colin Burstead, a film made for the BBC and first broadcast on BBC Two. Written and directed by Wheatley, it's a comedy drama loosely based on Shakespeare's Coriolanus, which focuses on a family get-together organised by the eponymous Colin, and it's a brilliantly crafted deadpan comic gem.
Happy New Year, Colin Burstead stars Neil Maskell as Colin, who rents a stately home to celebrate New Year with his extended family. The family dynamics prove predictably dysfunctional, but are thrown into further disarray by the arrival of David, Colin's estranged brother who has been in exile for the last few years. The reason for this estrangement turns out to be realistically banal - he cheated on his wife and left her and his kids to go off to Canada with his lover - but then that is this film all over: everyone's problems and arguments are ordinary, everyday, commonplace and brilliantly observed.
There are lots of characters here and every single one is well-written. As in Wheatley's debut Down Terrace, he proves very capable of writing natural-sounding, bone-dry witty dialogue complete with convincing small talk. The results are frequently hilarious: there are some very funny scenes, for example when stately home host Lord Richard is trying to work out how exactly Sandy tripped over his doorstep, and when Sham admits to his parents that he smokes. During the last third, there's a growing sense of unease, as the family threatens to implode and drink amplifies everybody's neuroses: anyone familiar with Coriolanus might expect Colin's brutal murder, but this is more knowingly down-to-Earth: having challenged his adulterous brother, he somehow ends up looking like the bad guy and leaves in a foul mood, almost having a panic attack, whilst the rest of the family reconciles.
The ensemble cast is perfectly chosen, with Maskell holding his own alongside the likes of Doon Mackichan, Bill Paterson and Charles Dance. Sam Riley is well-cast as charming rogue David, whilst Asim Chaudhry quietly steals all the best lines as Sham. Richard Glover's Lord Richard is arguably one of the least important characters to the plot, but Glover brings him to life with an erstwhile, down-trodden performance that is amusing and endearing in equal measure, especially when he's confronted about an illegal rave that he once hosted by Peter Ferdinando's straight-talking Jimmy.
If Wheatley the writer is on top form, then so is Wheatley the director, juggling is large cast expertly and making excellent use of the Pennsylvania Castle location filming, which once again demonstrates that this director is perfectly at home working in confined settings. Wheatley's regular collaborator Laurie Rose provides the cinematography, which again has a hand-held documentary feel that enhances the realism (as indeed it did back in Down Terrace). There are lots of nice touches, culminating in the crew members appearing in the dance sequence at the end as the credits roll. Clint Mansell, another Wheatley regular, provides the understated but effective score. High Rise proved that Wheatley can handle a larger budget and an A-list cast well: Happy New Year, Colin Burstead proves - not for the first time - that he doesn't need either of those things to make really, really good films.
Happy New Year, Colin Burstead stars Neil Maskell as Colin, who rents a stately home to celebrate New Year with his extended family. The family dynamics prove predictably dysfunctional, but are thrown into further disarray by the arrival of David, Colin's estranged brother who has been in exile for the last few years. The reason for this estrangement turns out to be realistically banal - he cheated on his wife and left her and his kids to go off to Canada with his lover - but then that is this film all over: everyone's problems and arguments are ordinary, everyday, commonplace and brilliantly observed.
There are lots of characters here and every single one is well-written. As in Wheatley's debut Down Terrace, he proves very capable of writing natural-sounding, bone-dry witty dialogue complete with convincing small talk. The results are frequently hilarious: there are some very funny scenes, for example when stately home host Lord Richard is trying to work out how exactly Sandy tripped over his doorstep, and when Sham admits to his parents that he smokes. During the last third, there's a growing sense of unease, as the family threatens to implode and drink amplifies everybody's neuroses: anyone familiar with Coriolanus might expect Colin's brutal murder, but this is more knowingly down-to-Earth: having challenged his adulterous brother, he somehow ends up looking like the bad guy and leaves in a foul mood, almost having a panic attack, whilst the rest of the family reconciles.
The ensemble cast is perfectly chosen, with Maskell holding his own alongside the likes of Doon Mackichan, Bill Paterson and Charles Dance. Sam Riley is well-cast as charming rogue David, whilst Asim Chaudhry quietly steals all the best lines as Sham. Richard Glover's Lord Richard is arguably one of the least important characters to the plot, but Glover brings him to life with an erstwhile, down-trodden performance that is amusing and endearing in equal measure, especially when he's confronted about an illegal rave that he once hosted by Peter Ferdinando's straight-talking Jimmy.
If Wheatley the writer is on top form, then so is Wheatley the director, juggling is large cast expertly and making excellent use of the Pennsylvania Castle location filming, which once again demonstrates that this director is perfectly at home working in confined settings. Wheatley's regular collaborator Laurie Rose provides the cinematography, which again has a hand-held documentary feel that enhances the realism (as indeed it did back in Down Terrace). There are lots of nice touches, culminating in the crew members appearing in the dance sequence at the end as the credits roll. Clint Mansell, another Wheatley regular, provides the understated but effective score. High Rise proved that Wheatley can handle a larger budget and an A-list cast well: Happy New Year, Colin Burstead proves - not for the first time - that he doesn't need either of those things to make really, really good films.