This four-strand comedy has all the typical British elements: crime, smugness, sex and nudity. Fortunately there are also some terrific characters, and the film’s an enjoyable romp.
Everyone arrives on the same flight from London to Malaga. An over-stressed couple (Kelly and Lucas) gets rerouted to a nudist resort, where they run into their boss (Gant). A wannabe womaniser (Manookian) falls for an animal-rights activist (Belmont) when they set out to free a goat that’s part of a local ritual. Another couple (Webber and Murphy) gets sent to a downgraded hotel, but is tempted by a smirking developer (Mayall) with an offer too good to be true. And an ageing hitman (Tom Bell) accidentally befriends his mobster target (Reid).
The film is sunny and bright, with a comical tone that’s scruffy and even slightly edgy. Sure, the storylines feel rather random, just dipping into whatever antics the writers felt like throwing into the mix, regardless of whether they fit the characters–from arguments to sex to criminal behaviour. But the cast keep things real, underplaying the goofy comedy, even when the situations are completely ludicrous.
All the old chestnuts in the Englishmen-abroad genre are here: swapped bags, unexpected nudity, drunken stupidity, bodily function problems, cultural blunders. As the stories begin to intertwine with each other, it all gets somewhat contrived, but remains engaging and entertainingly rude, with plenty of gratuitous sex and nudity (including a big naked dance number), and a corny moral sensibility in which the bad guys get what they deserve without requiring any nasty behaviour from anyone else. Silly, uninhibited and surprisingly enjoyable, this is best viewed with a group of friends after a few drinks.
