By Robbie Jones
David Walliams is surely one of the funniest people working in Britain today. He is a fantastic writer and actor, and his charity work is very admirable. Everyone knows him best for his work with Matt Lucas (Little Britain, Come Fly with me etc.) and his turn as judge on reality show Britain’s Got Talent, featuring his hilarious bromance with Simon Cowell. However, in the past few years, Walliams has proved himself to be a very talented author, having released 6 books for children. The 4th of these, Gangsta Granny, was recently made into a film and aired this Boxing Day. And I have to say, it was rather good!
David Walliams is surely one of the funniest people working in Britain today. He is a fantastic writer and actor, and his charity work is very admirable. Everyone knows him best for his work with Matt Lucas (Little Britain, Come Fly with me etc.) and his turn as judge on reality show Britain’s Got Talent, featuring his hilarious bromance with Simon Cowell. However, in the past few years, Walliams has proved himself to be a very talented author, having released 6 books for children. The 4th of these, Gangsta Granny, was recently made into a film and aired this Boxing Day. And I have to say, it was rather good!
Ben (Reece Buttery) is an 11 year old boy living in London. His passion is plumbing and dreams to be a plumber one day, but his parents (David Walliams and Miranda Hart), who are obsessed with ballroom dancing, Strictly, and it’s host Flavio Flavioli (Robbie Williams), have other dreams for him. But one thing he really hates is having to stay at his Granny’s (Julia McKenzie) house on Friday nights so his parents can have dance lessons. One night, he finds a tin of precious jewels in her kitchen, follows her out of the house, and sees her trying to rob a shop. The next day, she explains that in her youth she was a jewel thief known as ‘The Black Cat’, and tells him about all of her robberies. Ben suddenly realises that his Granny is actually really cool, dubbing her a “Gangsta Granny”. She admits that the only jewels she was never able to steal were the crown jewels. Using a study of the Tower of London’s plumbing, Ben devises a plan to break in and steal them, but how long before suspicious Neighbourhood watch leader Mr. Parker (Rob Brydon) catches on?
The film is a bit silly. After all, it is based on a kids book. But what’s great about it is that it has enough charm packed into it to balance it out. You don’t need to be a kid to enjoy it; you can be any age as long as you have a sense of humour. The writing is fantastic, and perhaps just as funny as the book.
Speaking of the cast, they are ALL fantastic! Not a flawed performance in sight, from Reece Buttery’s shy but lovely Ben to Miranda Hart’s snooty and hilarious Linda, everyone plays their parts perfectly. A personal highlight was Robbie Williams as Flavio Flaviola, the Spanish (I think?) host of Strictly Come Dancing. He was barely in it, but anytime he appeared on screen with his awful fake tan and ridiculous accent, it was hard not to laugh. Joanna Lumley was great as The Queen, but the star performance is surely Julia McKenzie as the Gangsta Granny herself, a very sweet old lady who may have an aged body but the mind and spirit of a young one, a quality brought out perfectly by McKenzie.
Speaking of the cast, they are ALL fantastic! Not a flawed performance in sight, from Reece Buttery’s shy but lovely Ben to Miranda Hart’s snooty and hilarious Linda, everyone plays their parts perfectly. A personal highlight was Robbie Williams as Flavio Flaviola, the Spanish (I think?) host of Strictly Come Dancing. He was barely in it, but anytime he appeared on screen with his awful fake tan and ridiculous accent, it was hard not to laugh. Joanna Lumley was great as The Queen, but the star performance is surely Julia McKenzie as the Gangsta Granny herself, a very sweet old lady who may have an aged body but the mind and spirit of a young one, a quality brought out perfectly by McKenzie.
The film’s most shining quality is its poignancy and tenderness, something that mixes so well with the comedy for a bitter sweet finale. I can’t say much for the book, but Gangsta Granny was one of the best things on this Christmas.
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