Burke and Hare (2010)

The latest release from Ealing Studio brings us nothing but anguish. Here, an English production, which too, brings together the crème da la crème of British comic talent, is spearheaded with American director John Landis. It all seems such a quaint and cosy relationship, that is, until the irony of its comic talents' being stretched to their limits to the point of an overbearing dull script that bears no content and meaning to the qualities of its cast. A script that having tipped over the precipice into the void of tumbleweed silence that is only projected with puerile gag after puerile gag.

It seems the progression of both writers Piers Ashworth and Nick Moorcroft, having both penned the St. Trinian's legacies, have stepped sideways rather than forward.

It may have its, few, moments of laugh-out-loud hilarities, but the tragic script has the film looking more redundant and childlike as the film goes on. It's more pantomime-silly, something the British excel when it comes to comedy, a change of direction perhaps? Rather than dark humoured wit. With the combination of British writers, actors etc and the American director it really does look like the overall production may have been lost in translation. With Mr. Landis's past works, in contrast, this effort is simply an embarrassing nail in the coffin of wasted opportunities. The jokes, gags, humour just does not gel into place to form any fluid coherent form.

In this lost land of weak and forgetful writing, we may also be witnessing Mr. Pegg's weakest and lowest point in his career, simply dire and if at times too uncomfortable to behold, we have not seen Mr. Pegg, here, at his best. While on the other hand, we are also witness to one of the most misplaced, miscast crimes of the century, and this being the role of Ronnie Corbett as one Captain McLintock. This is, again, pure undiluted and ridiculous pantomime theatrics.

The whole exercise seems patchy. At an individual level, the prime of British comedy here is more than exemplary, such as Bill Bailey, the great Ronnie Corbett, Tim Curry, Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis and Reece Shearsmith for example, British comedy spanning decades. I truly believe that here, with Burke and Hare, a true opportunity has been lost in the smog of a high-octane director and its eagerness to exploit this Englishness. The rain has comedown too early and the colours have run into the gutter before one had the chance to truly explore the vast picture of experience of this great British elite.

Fmovies: The amazing Simon Pegg in this historical comedy based on the real life murderers Burke and Hare. Very funny all the way through, witty and with a star-studded cast of the English screen. Have wanted to see this since it was in the cinema and I can't believe it's taken me this long - well worth the wait! Some cringeworthy gross bits, but an all round a romp of a good film. So many laughs. Some at the expense of the accents.

Reminiscent of Plunket and Macleane with dark bawdy humour and little colour, period pieces with lots of physical humour and style in keeping with how the times would have been, not too showy and "hollywood." Pegg and Serkis were brilliant together and Jessica Hynes is always a comedy genius. British film at it's best.

I watched this film not really sure what to expect, but it wasn't that! I really liked it, I thought it had a good story-line and it kept quite close to the original story. I also thought that Simon Pegg as William Burke did a very convincing performance. I will admit I found the ending quite sad, poor Burke:(. I didn't find it as funny as other Simon Pegg films, but I though that even though it wasn't very funny, it was still a very good film. I am still a little confused of the 15 rating though, as I thought there was going to be a lot more blood. Overall I would say that Burke and Hare is a very funny film, with some very good actors. I would rate it 9/10 and say that it is suitable for anyone 13+.

Burke and Hare fmovies. It is good to see a John Landis film back on the big screen but i feel he missed a trick or two with this average effort. Firstly, for a film set in Scotland i found it odd that the cast was almost entirely English, betraying the roots of the story (and of the English cast only Tom Wilkinson ,a splendid actor, managed to give a good approximation of a Scots accent).

This film felt a bit of a homage to the Hammer films, a point made when a certain Hammer Icon makes a cameo appearance (i won't name the individual as i don't want to add a spoiler). I am guessing Landis is a Hammer fan and to be fair to him the sets and locations work quite well, giving Edinburgh a spooky feel to it. Both Pegg and Serkis are OK in the lead roles and do their best to sound Irish. It was also good to see Jenny Agutter make a brief appearance too, especially as she is invariably remembered for appearing in Landis's American Werewolf in London nearly 30 years ago...a nice touch by the director. In fact there seems to be quite a lot of casting British film and TV icons in this film (Ronnie Corbett being another) so i'm guessing that maybe Simon Pegg or Andy Serkis only agreed to do it if certain British childhood icons of theirs were also given parts.

To be honest the Burke and Hare story has been better done before but this film puts a comedic twist on it that doesn't always work. The bad language feels unnecessary for a start and the gore isn't as bad as i thought (certainly not on the levels of the Hostel or Saw films...and not even as graphic as the Final Destination franchise). There are some genuine laughs to be had but usually when Pegg and Serkis are on the screen. The story itself also swings back and forth between gruesome and the unexpected romantic angles that may have been intended to show Burke and Hare as committing their crimes for something other than just greed.

Basically this is a reasonably graphic horror story with heart and morality that has some good laughs but falls flat in a few areas. The cast give it their best shot and whilst it has an old fashioned feel to it in many ways, it is the unnecessary post-modern touches, the inconsistent rate at which the comedy comes and the rather odd casting that jarred me. However do keep an eye out for the odd cameo appearance from some famous actors and comedians.

While there was another movie with a similar theme, that I watched last year, I thought this would be superior to that one. I mean this is made by John Landis. So I was expecting quite a bit more from it, I have to admit. It does not disappoint completely, it just feels like a bit too light. There seems to be something missing. Character development is straightforward, but still it's nothing grand. Something I came to expect from a Landis movie.

Of course I might be nit-picking. The movie is not bad at all. It has quite a few comic moments (an intercourse scene that is just funny and could not be called arousing at all, works greatly, there are scenes of great comedy value besides that too), but there is still something missing to make it better. I would recommend a watch. I'd just say not to expect too much!

Edit: I just found out a month ago, that there is a very good chance, that there is another cut of this movie. A cut approved by Mr. Landis himself (which seems not to have been the case with this one) ... that would explain quite a lot ...

Burke and Hare is a story of two men in Scotland in the late XIX century barely making a dime when an opportunity comes along to earn hard cash by killing people and selling their bodies to the benefit of science.

This movie may seem morally rotten at its core making a comedy out of murder, but it succeeds at it while quite a lot of comedies with far less harmful plots don't, not to mention that some of the most popular TV shows of today make it fit right in. John Landis comedies much in common with ZAZ productions and sometimes are almost live action cartoons. The title characters are shown as flawed people in a desperate situation which they think justifies their actions - we don't laugh with them, only at them. And that's intentional.

John Landis came back with a surprisingly decent feature. It's as if the MTV-style cinema revolution has passed him by (the one that hit the new Sherlock Holmes square in the face). No camera gymnastics, no forced sensual assault, all the action and physical comedy happens in frame. Burke and Hare is his first 2.35:1 feature and it shows - the frame at first appears a little too wide, like if the characters were taken from a 16:9 movie and arranged accordingly. By the way, "highly entertaining", "very funny" and "packed with the cream of British talent" - those bits on the poster aren't far from the truth.