''Faintheart'' is a 2008 British comedy film, directed by Vito Rocco and starring

Eddie Marsan Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008). He has feature ...

Ewen Bremner Ewen Bremner (born 23 January 1972) is a Scottish character actor. His roles have included Julien in ''Julien Donkey-Boy'' and Daniel "Spud" Murphy in '' Trainspotting'' and its 2017 sequel '' T2 Trainspotting''. Early life Bremner was born i ...

and

Jessica Hynes Tallulah Jessica Elina Hynes (''née'' Stevenson; born 30 October 1972) is an English actress, director and writer. Known professionally as Jessica Stevenson until 2007, she was one of the creators, writers and stars of the British sitcom ''Spac ...

. It concerns a lead character involved in the

historical reenactment Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historic uniforms or costumes and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a historical event or ...

of medieval battles; and is the first film to be created using active input from an online site. The film was a result of collaborative effort from Myspace, Vertigo films and

Film4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, i ...

. The resulting group, MyMovieMashUp, sought to harness the talents of the online community and to enable them to be involved in the film-making process. Various cast and crew members were picked from the MySpaceUK website to work on the project, a unique tactic in the film-making industry. Although the casting and soundtrack were assembled with the help of Myspace, the screenplay was written by UK-based writer David Lemon. Professional Viking re-enactors from UK-based company " The Vikings" formed part of the cast alongside Britannia Romano-British society. A specialist stunt team from

East 15 Acting School East 15 Acting School (East 15) is a British drama school in Loughton, Essex.Its degrees are awarded by the University of Essex, with which it merged on 1 September 2000. As of 2020, Essex University, where East 15 is located, has been ranked No. ...

took part in filming the large battles under the fight direction of Richard Ryan.

Plot

Richard is separated from his wife and son because she is tired of playing second fiddle to his medieval war re-enactments: The Broad Swords. He is trying desperately to win her back by recreating the atmosphere in which their relationship began, but she has moved on, and is dating the school gym teacher. His son is equally geeky but blames his father for this, as it results in his being bullied at school. Meanwhile, his gaming friend Julian, who owns a comic book store, is having his own romantic problems, but finds Maggie, a woman with an equal love of Star Trek: The Next Generation which sets him on the right track. Richard has a lowly job in a DIY store and his manager has little sympathy either with his hobby or home problems. After a heart to heart discussion with his "Viking" colleagues he has a change of heart. He cuts off his long hair. He apologises at the grave of his father-in-law where he meets his mother-in-law. But when his son's young girlfriend expresses an interest in watching the re-enactment he returns to his love, rescuing his swords from the dump. His wife realises the gym teacher looks good but is ugly inside. Richard joins in a huge public display battle between Vikings and Normans. The fight is side-lined by the gym teacher appearing, resulting in a duel between him and Richard. When the son intervenes his wife takes a bow and arrow and forces the teacher to retreat to the cheer of the crowds. Romantic comedy concerning Richard and his efforts to win back his wife, whilst taking part in weekend re-enactments of Viking battles. At the same time he is bullied at work and his son is bullied at school because of his father's hobby.

Cast

as Richard *

as Julian *

as Cath, Richard's wife *

Bronagh Gallagher Bronagh Gallagher (born 26 April 1972) is an Irish singer and actress from Northern Ireland. Gallagher had her first acting role in the 1989 television movie '' Dear Sarah''. In 2020, she was listed at number 33 on ''The Irish Times'' list of I ...

as Maggie * Tim Healy as Geoff * Paul Nicholls as Gary * Jodie Packwood as mischievous schoolgirl *

Anne Reid Anne Reid, MBE (born 28 May 1935) is a British stage, film and television actress, known for her roles as Valerie Barlow in the soap opera '' Coronation Street'' (1961–1971); Jean in the sitcom '' dinnerladies'' (1998–2000); and her role ...

as Barbara Wallace, Richard's mother-in-law * Joseph Hamilton as Martin * Chloe Hesar as Emily *

Richard Ridings Richard Ridings (born 19 September 1958) is an English actor. He portrayed Alan Ashburn in the ITV television drama ''Fat Friends'', Bernard Green in the BBC One comedy-drama '' Common as Muck'', and is the voice of Daddy Pig in ''Peppa Pig''. H ...

as Collin * Gary Sefton as Vince *

Kevin Eldon Kevin Eldon (born 2 October 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He featured in British comedy television shows of the 1990s including ''Fist of Fun'', '' This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', '' Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge' ...

as Alan *

Sandra Voe Sandra Voe (born 6 October 1936) is a Scottish actress of film, television, and theatre. Career Television and films Voe began her on screen career in 1966, appearing in an episode of ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook''. She has also appeared in '' ...

as Julian's Mum * Matthew Leighton as Kim * Tom Smith as Danny *

Phil Lester Philip Michael Lester (born 30 January 1987) is an English YouTuber and radio host. He is best known for his YouTube channels ''AmazingPhil'', which gained over 4 million subscribers, and ''DanAndPhilGAMES''. Together with frequent collaborato ...

as Tim * Oscar McDevitt as Pete *

Rasmus Hardiker Rasmus Hardiker (born 31 January 1985) is a British actor, best known for voicing Scott and Alan Tracy in the reboot animated television series '' Thunderbirds Are Go''. He played Raymond in Steve Coogan's sitcom ''Saxondale'' and Ben in the Ja ...

as Comic Book Fan 1 *

Edward Tudor-Pole Edward Felix Tudor-Pole (also known as Edward Tenpole, though he introduced himself as "Ed" on several episodes of '' The Crystal Maze''; born 6 December 1955) is an English musician, television presenter and actor. Originally gaining fame in t ...

as Lollipop Man / Death Metal Singer *

Tim Potter Tim Potter is an English actor in theatre, films and TV since the 1980s. Career Potter's stage work includes playing the role of Salvador Dalí in the original production of Terry Johnson's ''Hysteria'' at the Royal Court in 1993, and Charles I ...

as Headmaster * Aliese Kellner-Joyce as Office Worker *

Colin Webb Colin Edward Webb (born 9 December 1937) is a British physicist and former professor at the University of Oxford, specialising in lasers. Education Webb was educated at the University of Nottingham (BSc) and Oriel College, Oxford (DPhil). C ...

as Policeman * George Hill as Boy With Owl * Chris R. Wright as Simon * Calum Chalmers as Kevin * Steve Ryland as Comic Book Fan 2 * Nick Ball as Graham * Jason Excell as Death Metal Band Bassist * Graeme Brookes as Pub Landlord * Joseph Ripley as Photographer * Rosalyn Scanlon as Office Worker

Critical reception

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

gave the film two out of five stars, writing, "this is not a bad movie, exactly, but it aims curiously low, and is faintly pointless; and while the actors cope well with the material, they are finally just cardboard characters in a balsa-wood plot." Sky Movies gave the film four out of five stars, saying, "it's a totally unexpected hoot...Director Vito Rocco and credited writer David Lemon have done a terrific job in creating one of the most consistently funny and winning Brit-coms of recent years." The

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

review by Chris Tilly was positive.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=1080012 British comedy films British romantic comedy films Vertigo Films films British independent films 2009 films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films

Plot

Cast

Critical reception

References

Further reading

External links