✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper


Sign up by Email or Facebook.

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we sent newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Turning tips into memories

Get started Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Kids
  • Benefits
  • Membership
  • Get Started
  • Membership
  • Benefits
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Cinema

Dad's Army film review ★★★★★ "Plenty of charm – but not in the same league as the sitcom"

05 Feb 16 – 05 Mar 16, times vary

Classic British sitcom gets a big-screen revival with new Dad's Army film remake. 2016 film stars host of British talents including Bill Nighy, Michael Gambon and Catherine Zeta-Jones

By CW Contributor on 4/2/2016

Dad's Army
Dad's Army
Dad's Army film review "Plenty of charm – but not in the same league as the sitcom" 3 Dad's Army film review "Plenty of charm – but not in the same league as the sitcom" Natalie Sauer
Dad's Army film UK release date: Friday 5 February, 2016


The BBC's flagship sitcom Dad's Army about the pensioners who worked to guard the home front while the young men were away is a much-quoted British institution. Many were apprehensive at the news that Jimmy Perry and David Croft’s sitcom was to be adapted for the cinema, for what need was there to pay homage to a TV show that got it right the first time?

But while Oliver Parker’s new Dad's Army film does not reach the comedic heights of the original BBC series, it is as gently humorous as it is charming. Occasional outbursts of slapstick build to a fun, sweet-natured film that pays tribute to the original.



The feel-good comedy is greatly boosted by thespian royalty Bill Nighy, Tom Courtenay and Michael Gambon playing the aged platoon.

Set in Walmington-on-Sea in 1944, the film follows visiting journalist, Rose Winters – played with plenty of glamour by Catherine Zeta-Jones – whose interest in the village Home Guard platoon is somewhat suspicious. The drama cranks up when MI5 discovers that a German spy is lying concealed in the fictional British town sending messages to Berlin. The Home Guard's incompetent crew of pensioners must step up to the plate and defend their country for the first time.

Some of the film's attempts to replicate the humour of the television series feel feeble: while in the original, Captain Mainwaring’s mistaking the bull for the enemy (which then proceeds to chase the platoon around a field) would set the scene a broader joke, in the film this is the joke, and later almost exactly the same gag is repeated when Private Godfrey mistakes a rabbit for a German spy. Cheap double entendres, too, make Parker's film feel a little sloppy.

That said, Zeta-Jones exudes charm as visiting journalist Rose Winters, and Michael Gambon raises laughs as a blundering buffoon. Fans of the original, too, might enjoy the cameo entry of Ian Lavender as Brigadier Pritchard.

The humour is more silly than subtle, but the frothy fun of the sitcom shines through.


Dad's Army marches outdoors...

Dad's Army is being screened in London parks this summer as part of Luna Cinema's open-air film programme - book your tickets now!

by Shobha Prabhu-Naik

What Dad's Army film review "Plenty of charm – but not in the same league as the sitcom"
Where Various Locations | MAP
Nearest tube Leicester Square (underground)
When 05 Feb 16 – 05 Mar 16, times vary
Price £ determined by cinema
Website Click here to go to the film's IMDB page



Most popular

Culture to see you through the weekend
Things to do in London this weekend: 22 - 24 January
Olly Alexander in It's A Sin, Channel 4 (Photo: Channel 4)
It's A Sin, Channel 4 review
Johnny Flynn in The Dig, Netflix (Photo: Netflix)
What to watch on TV this week

Don't miss:


  • 1. NEW WAVE

    January film season dedicated to the work of Jean Luc Godard

    2. TRUE ROMANCE

    Love is in the air at the BFI's blockbuster season

    3. SUNSET SONG

    Model Agyness Deyn stars in hotly anticipated Lewis Grassic Gibbon adaptation

    4. SPOTLIGHT

    Boston drama about the Catholic Church scandals stars Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams

    5. JOY

    Silver Linings Playbook director brings Jennifer Lawrence back into the spotlight

Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

Comedy

Toby Jones

Bill Nighy

Catherine Zeta-Jones

You might like

  • Analogue Basement: Analogue Pre‑curring

    London Short Film Festival 2016

  • The Hateful Eight film still

    The Hateful Eight film review ★★★★★

  • Curzon Film & Fizz at Boutique Hotel: London One Aldwych Cinema

    Curzon Film & Fizz at Boutique Hotel: London One Aldwych Cinema

  • The Here After film still

    The Here After



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • What is Culture Whisper membership
  • Corporate membership
  • Give a gift membership
  • Retrieve a gift membership
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×