Superbob
Darren Maskell and I headed for Peckham Plex for the closing night of the Peckham & Nunhead Free Film Festival, featuring a screening of Superbob. It's a comedy film developed by Brett Goldstein and John Drever. Goldstein plays the titular Superbob, the alter ego of Robert Kenner, who becomes a superhero after being struck by a meteorite and works for the Ministry of Defence under the stewardship of Teresa (Catherine Tate). The film follows Kenner on his union mandated day off, his relationship with his cleaner Dorris (Natalia Tena) and his attempts to go on a date with library worker June (Laura Haddock).
Goldstein's performance alone is probably worth the ticket price and he convinces as both a superhero and as the meek, socially awkward everyman attempting to find love and acceptance. But Tena also impresses as the fiery Colombian whose initial conflict with Bob drives much of the comedy. As pointed out in the subsequent Q+A, this is a film in which the female characters are depicted as strong and in control while their male counterparts flounder.
The film has a few structural and tonal issues. The initial conceit is that a documentary crew are following Superbob around as part of a PR offensive to "let people get to know the real Bob" but this seems to be abandoned around the midway point. One scene in particular where Bob attends the scene of an accident appears to have been taken from a much darker film. The live rolling news sections are wildly unrealistic and a subplot where Bob is required to kowtow to a US senator fails to stand up to any sort of logical scrutiny.
Leaving this aside, the film is largely at its best when focusing on Bob's personal relationships which leads to a suitably silly finale. Superbob is good fun and worth seeking out when it gets the limited theatrical release/DVD/on demand treatment next month.
Goldstein's performance alone is probably worth the ticket price and he convinces as both a superhero and as the meek, socially awkward everyman attempting to find love and acceptance. But Tena also impresses as the fiery Colombian whose initial conflict with Bob drives much of the comedy. As pointed out in the subsequent Q+A, this is a film in which the female characters are depicted as strong and in control while their male counterparts flounder.
The film has a few structural and tonal issues. The initial conceit is that a documentary crew are following Superbob around as part of a PR offensive to "let people get to know the real Bob" but this seems to be abandoned around the midway point. One scene in particular where Bob attends the scene of an accident appears to have been taken from a much darker film. The live rolling news sections are wildly unrealistic and a subplot where Bob is required to kowtow to a US senator fails to stand up to any sort of logical scrutiny.
Leaving this aside, the film is largely at its best when focusing on Bob's personal relationships which leads to a suitably silly finale. Superbob is good fun and worth seeking out when it gets the limited theatrical release/DVD/on demand treatment next month.
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