A Very British Coup
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Movie Reviews of A Very British Coup
Movie Review: Oops!
Summary: 1 Stars
Talk about bad timing -- mere weeks after this encomium to the superiority of state socialism originally aired in Britain, the Berlin Wall fell, and we learned the full extent of that system's failure throughout Eastern Europe.
One of the film's delusions is that the Soviet Union was a prosperous nation able to lend reams of cash to the British government in the late '80s. As we see now, it wasn't even capable of propping up its own economy, let alone anybody else's.
Aside from the outmoded political vision, the film fails on artistic grounds as well. It's practically cartoonish in its depiction of good and bad guys. This results in flat cardboard characterizations, with mustache-twirling villains on one side, and stout-hearted heroes on the other. It completely lacks the subtlety and complexity of character and story that usually mark great British television such as "The House of Cards" and even "Yes, Minister."
Some say that the film's depictions of Americans as "bullies" and "prize fighters" is an indictment of the U.S. Maybe it says more about them than about us.
I can see why it got the juices flowing at the New Yorker and other liberal arbiters of cultural taste. It would be interesting to see how they would review this film if its politics were reversed. But anybody whose politics is to the right of Ralph Nader will find this film to be practically unwatchable.
Movie Review: C'mon, people, get a grip here!
Summary: 1 Stars
"A Very British Coup" is a fine example of a left-wing fantasy.
This particular fantasy reminds me of nothing so much as the Canadian Broadcasting Company documentary about Enver Hoxa's Albania that was broadcast in the late 1980s. The conclusion of the CBC piece was that the happy, unspoiled Albanians were delighted with their dignified, pure lives and their blessed freedom from the follies of both West and East. Alas for the CBC documentary, within a month of its airing the happy Albanians were busy battering their way past Italian border guards on their way to endulging in as many Western follies and excesses as they could grab.
And so it is here. In this piece, a Labour Party PM achieves power. He immediately institutes a socialist agenda and kicks the US military out of Britain. All the while, he is supported by the limitless financial resources of the Soviet Union. (Score it 0 for prophecy!)
The program also shows virtually every leader of the Conservative Party as a thug at heart and without qualms about conspiring against virtuous lefty Prime Ministers, even unto plotting assassination. But there is no need to fear, for we are shown that the Tories are all paper tigers who can be overcome with a wave of the Beloved Leader's Benevolent Hand.
Gimme a break! This is for (bitter) laughs only.
Movie Review: Dull and Mindless
Summary: 1 Stars
If you think the world would be a better place if Joseph Stalin was still around you might like this film, otherwise you should skip seeing it. The characters are cardboard cliches. The plot is silly. To extend the running time to three hours the film is filled with meaningless cuts of military jet landing that have nothing to do with the story. "A Very British Coup" has none of the wit, intelligence and charm of "House of Cards".Movie Review: Self-indulgent lefty excrement
Summary: 1 Stars
This is propaganda without a shade of subtlety or nuance; I understand leftist Brits go in for this sort of thing. Story's Harry Perkins is a paragon throughout, and don't you know good intentions beat back all troubles. His enemies do not possess a shred of decency of course, just like in the real world where everyone who opposes unions is a big poopy head. For people who prefer cartoons to reality only.