Wild Target

It is always a shame when films you really like do badly at the box office. I suppose it is more likely with comedies than other genres; because different people find different things funny.

The problem with Wild Target is that its humour is very British. I think it's funny that Victor Maynard can't stand up to his mother and that Rose can't help helping herself to whatever she likes the look of. The bad guys are so comic-book that you almost feel sorry for them.

There is plenty of complexity and subtlety in all of the characters. Bill Nighy does his thing with panache and Emily Blunt is somehow strong and weak at the same time. My only criticism is that Rupert Grint has a character who is too much like Ron Weasley: that's a criticism of the writers not Grint, who does a fine job.

Somehow, amongst these great performances, Martin Freeman and Geoff Bell almost steal the show with their weirdly hilarious double-act of Dixon and Fabian ("What flavour are these?") ... who are just right as flunkies for an almost camp Rupert Everett.

So, I can't really explain why I thought this was funny, when clearly many other people didn't. Give it a try if you like anything else Bill Nighy has done... you might just laugh a lot too.