''The Real Howard Spitz'' is a 1998 family comedy film directed by

Vadim Jean Vadim Jean (born Bristol, 9 December 1963)"Zip up your Rhino suit"
Global Ideas Bank ...

, produced by

Paul Brooks Paul Brooks is a British-born film producer. Brooks has a Humanities degree in English/Philosophy/Psychology and Sociology from the University of London. He then went into real estate development before moving into film. In 1992 he executiv ...

and written by Jurgen Wolff. Starring

Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained fame for his role as the psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984–1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993–2004, and again F ...

Amanda Donohoe Amanda Donohoe (born 29 June 1962) is an English actress. She first came to public attention at age 16 for her relationship with pop singer Adam Ant, appearing in the music videos for the Adam and the Ants singles " Antmusic" (1980) and " Stan ...

and Genevieve Tessier, it is a Canadian and U.K co-production. A failed detective writer, Howard Spitz has hit rock bottom until an 8-year-old girl helps him write children's books.

Plot

Howard Spitz is the author behind a string of poorly selling

detective novels Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

. He discovers that in contrast

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

enjoy strong sales. Believing it an easy way to make money, Spitz becomes a children's author with his new book character, a bovine detective named "Crafty Cow", but finds writing for his new audience significantly difficult. Whilst doing research at the local library, he submits his drafts to a little girl called Samantha Kershaw who polishes them up. In return, she asks Spitz to find her father who left her mother before she was born. Spitz also discovers that to become a successful children's author he will need to do public appearances with his audience. Terrified at the prospect of having to spend time with children, Spitz hires a struggling actor to serve as his public face. But soon his

doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...

is having

delusions of grandeur Delusions of grandeur, also known as grandiose delusions (GDs) or expansive delusions, are a subtype of delusion characterized by the extraordinary belief that one is famous, omnipotent, wealthy, or otherwise very powerful or of a high status. ...

, as his book becomes more and more successful. Finally, at an awards ceremony, he confesses his identity, and finds that after spending so much time with Samantha, and after all the help she's given him, he feels more at ease around children.

Cast

as Howard Spitz *

as Laura Kershaw *Genevieve Tessier as Samantha Kershaw *Joseph Rutten as Lou *

Patrick McKenna Patrick McKenna (born May 8, 1960) is a Canadian comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Harold Green on the television series '' The Red Green Show'' and Marty Stevens on the television series '' Traders''. Early life Patrick McKenna ...

as Roger *

Kay Tremblay Kay Tremblay (13 March 1914 – 9 August 2005) was a Canadian film actress, also appearing on television and theatre. She was best known for her Gemini Award-winning role of Great Aunt Eliza on ''Road to Avonlea''. Biography Born in Scotland, sh ...

as Theodora Winkle *David Christoffel as Bill Sellers *

Lex Gigeroff Alexander Kier Gigeroff (June 29, 1962 – December 25, 2011), known professionally as Lex Gigeroff, was a Canadian television writer and actor best remembered as a co-creator of the science fiction series ''Lexx''. He also appeared in the comedy ...

as Ronnie Relish *Gary Levert as Red Allen *

Jeffrey Hirschfield Jeffrey Hirschfield is co-developer of the science fiction series ''Lexx''. He wrote for three of its four seasons and voiced the character of the robot head 790. Hirschfield is also creator of the live action/animation sci-fi adventure series ''Zi ...

as Lawrence *

Denny Doherty Dennis Gerrard Stephen Doherty (November 29, 1940 – January 19, 2007) was a Canadian singer, songwriter and musician. A tenor, he was a founding member of the 1960s musical group the Mamas & the Papas for which he was inducted into the Rock ...

as Balthazar Mishkin *Edward Gregson as Aaron *Joanne Hagen as Waitress *Justin Friesen as Lionel - TV Show Kid

Reception

Nick Griffiths, writing for ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'' film magazine, noted that Kelsey Grammer "dominates the screen with a masterful blend of self-referential humour and Frasier-style sarcasm - despite having to spend much of the film dressed as his bovine protagonist." He concluded that "The script often threatens to plunge into family film saccharine, but is saved by Jean's assured direction, a performance well beyond her years from Tessier and an often hysterically funny turn from McKenna as moronic actor." by Nick Griffiths, Empire on line 2015-10-14

References

External links

* * 1998 films 1998 comedy films British comedy films Canadian comedy films English-language Canadian films Films scored by John Murphy (composer) Films about writers Films directed by Vadim Jean 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films 1990s British films {{1990s-comedy-film-stub