When trailers dropped for Catherine Tate’s The Nan Movie, one could recall the awfulness of Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie. That film was a laughter graveyard that seemed to operate on the belief that old women swearing, or partaking in raunchy antics, is somehow hysterically funny. The Nan Movie is cut from the same cloth of misguided comedy. Yet what strikes you most of all is how completely bland it is. It’s the humour equivalent of uncooked rice.
One of the most popular characters of The Catherine Tate Show was the foul-mouthed grandmother Joanie Taylor, aka Nan. She’s arguably the show’s most recognisable character, outside of Lauren Cooper (“Am I bovvered?”). In this spin-off film, Nan (Tate) finds out that her estranged sister Nell (Katherine Parkinson) is dying. Nan is still bitter about a conflict between the sisters from years ago, but her loyal-to-a-fault grandson Jamie (Matthew Horne) convinces her to take a road-trip with him, a road-trip that will eventually lead Nan to reuniting with her sister. High jinks ensue.
Nan is the type of character that works in short bursts. Her gimmick is that she’s over the top polite to your face, but then sulky and rude behind your back. However, when stretched to a full length film the character starts to become less endearing and more contemptuous. Her general selfishness is appalling, and the apathy she radiates spreads to those around her, including the audience. As such, the few moments of sentimental value that exist between her and her put-upon grandson feel beyond artificial. Tate is a wonderful talent, and although the makeup that went into transforming her into Nan is as solid as ever, her performance is akin to someone jangling keys in front of your face.
Crass humour has its place in comedy, and can even be utilised effectively in the right hands (think 21 Jump Street or Booksmart). Yet being crass for the sake of crassness is not inherently funny. The worst comedies always make this mistake, and The Nan Movie is no different. The “jokes” consists of overblown drug misuse, regressive stereotypes, shocking indifference to fellow characters, and toilet humour where the punchline is solely the fact that it’s toilet humour. The speed at which this gets exhausting is one of the few impressive things about the film. Even when it spices things up by trading in flatulence for generic jabs at millennials, you’ve already become numb to its lethargy.
The filmmaking leaves a lot to be desired too. Josie Rourke of Mary Queen of Scots initially directed this, but she seems to have [wisely] jumped ship since then. The film plays like an explosion at the editing bay; fumbly stringing together dull long takes and close ups, erratic transitions, gear grinding music and sound choices, and a bizarre incorporation of ugly paper animation that would feel at home in an experimental horror movie. This mishmash of craftsmanship becomes as tiresome as its vacuous sense of humour.
Yet the strangest stinger of all is the dual timeline. While about two thirds of the film consist of the above cringe fests, the remainder is set during World War Two. It is here where we learn the source of Nan and Nell’s sisterly rift. Although it’s equally underwritten, this portion of the film is significantly more competent. The story beats feel more considered. Tate’s performance is noticeably better. Even the filmmaking seems more inspired via the grainy cinematography. Perhaps this would’ve been better off as a purely dramatic film; a thought that becomes all the more disheartening when we cut back to the present timeline – the death-rattle of Nan’s spine-chilling cackle serving as the final nail in the coffin of potential.
Films like Movie 43 or Freddy Got Fingered employ similarly juvenile, grotesque choices. They are among the worst comedies ever made, yet you could argue that they are at least engaging because of how awful they are. Make no mistake, The Nan Movie is terrible, but it isn’t even interesting in its terribleness. When all of its irritating soundbites, lazy themes, and obnoxious escapades are combined, the experience of watching it becomes so relentlessly headache-inducing that you start zoning out, likely as a defence mechanism. It almost makes one wish it were more offensive than it is. That would at least elicit an emotion other than complete weariness.
As the end credits began to roll I remembered a line of dialogue from the brilliant Disney show Gravity Falls. During the episode “Little Gift Shop of Horrors” the character of Grunkle Stan is subjected to a similarly dreadful movie. Upon its conclusion he recites a short review that I ended up saying to myself after finishing The Nan Movie: “Well, that just put me 90 minutes closer to death”.
Writers: Catherine Tate & Brett Goldstein
Stars: Catherine Tate, Matthew Horne, Katherine Parkinson
Country: UK
Runtime: 95 minutes
Rating: 
