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Mindhorn (2016)
Nov. 14th, 2017 10:50 pmThe inimitable John M. Ford once said: “Every book is three books, after all; the one the writer intended, the one the reader expected, and the one that casts its shadow when the first two meet by moonlight.” Of course, the number is far larger than three, for EVERY individual reader has their own expectations and casts their own shadow across the work. Also of course, this is just as true of movies as it is of books.
Today, Kestrell and I each saw a movie that no one else will ever see.
Mindhorn is a fun, silly movie. It opens with a prologue in the 1980s, where actor Richard Thorncroft is starring in the hit TV series “Mindhorn”, playing a police man with a bionic eye that also functions as a lie detector. When the story jumps to the present day, however, we find that Richard hasn’t landed a decent role since. He is therefore thrilled to find that some actual police need his help in a way which he hopes will generate publicity. They have a lead in a murder case – but the suspect refuses to speak with anyone except Detective Mindhorn. Along the way, Richard reunites with several friends (and enemies) who he hasn’t seen in a quarter century. Needless to say, wackiness ensues, and before long Detective Mindhorn is actively investigating the case.
The script is decent, if rarely actually surprising. The actors are engaging and funny. I can recommend it as an amusing bit of fluff on those grounds.
But the movie which Kestrell and I saw was side-splittingly HILARIOUS for reasons which we did not anticipate. You see, it turns out that this suspect who will only speak to Detective Mindhorn demands to be referred to as “The Kestrel”. Which is often followed up by an utterance of “Ca-KAW!” It is quite common for us to take longer than the stated running time to watch a film because I frequently pause it to describe a detailed piece of visuals. It is less common that I have to pause to wait for one or both of us to stop helplessly giggling. Today, there was A LOT of pausing.
ETA: Kestrell's take.
Today, Kestrell and I each saw a movie that no one else will ever see.
Mindhorn is a fun, silly movie. It opens with a prologue in the 1980s, where actor Richard Thorncroft is starring in the hit TV series “Mindhorn”, playing a police man with a bionic eye that also functions as a lie detector. When the story jumps to the present day, however, we find that Richard hasn’t landed a decent role since. He is therefore thrilled to find that some actual police need his help in a way which he hopes will generate publicity. They have a lead in a murder case – but the suspect refuses to speak with anyone except Detective Mindhorn. Along the way, Richard reunites with several friends (and enemies) who he hasn’t seen in a quarter century. Needless to say, wackiness ensues, and before long Detective Mindhorn is actively investigating the case.
The script is decent, if rarely actually surprising. The actors are engaging and funny. I can recommend it as an amusing bit of fluff on those grounds.
But the movie which Kestrell and I saw was side-splittingly HILARIOUS for reasons which we did not anticipate. You see, it turns out that this suspect who will only speak to Detective Mindhorn demands to be referred to as “The Kestrel”. Which is often followed up by an utterance of “Ca-KAW!” It is quite common for us to take longer than the stated running time to watch a film because I frequently pause it to describe a detailed piece of visuals. It is less common that I have to pause to wait for one or both of us to stop helplessly giggling. Today, there was A LOT of pausing.
ETA: Kestrell's take.