‘Brian and Charles’: A peculiar friendship

For his first feature film, Jim Archer recovers the tender story of ‘Brian and Charles’, a short film he made in 2017 and for which he was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the SXSW Film Festival. With the same team, it became one of the feature films that could be seen at the Sundance Festival 2022, as well as being passed through Sitges and hit commercial theaters in Spain after being nominated for two BIFA Awards.

The premise is practically identical. With a mockumentary style, whose shape recalls ‘Carmina o revienta’ by Paco León, Archer shows the life of a rural hermitwho lives in rural Wales, in a house that belonged to his parents and which it is understood that, in the past, it was used for grazing sheep, as it has a large fenced plot of land. The man, whose disheveled appearance does not invite him to be very popular in the city, makes extravagant inventions whose results are usually not effective.

Although, initially, the tape shows a portrait of Brian, a man who risks suffering from Diogenes syndrome, his friendly approach typical of feel-good cinema manages to prevent the film from degenerating into a proposal of scatological humor and an absurd plot. In contrast, Archer, who directs from a script written by David Earl and Chris Hayward, who also star in the film, ends up creating a kind of proposition whose spirit is closer to eighties family comedy-dramas like ‘ET, the’ extraterrestrial’ or ‘Short Circuit’. ‘.

Some endearing characters in a friendly film with a whimsical twist

And it does so thanks to the protagonist’s inventiveness ends up creating a robot that ends up having a life of its own, the Charles of the film’s title. An analog automaton whose personality ends up being opposite to that of the protagonist, which allows them to complement each other beautifully.

Of course, the artistic intentions are much smaller and the approach is more aimed at an adult audience. However, the result is similar, especially with the John Badham tape, since then It is a beautiful proposition, whose main strength lies in the charisma of its leading duo. David Earl stands out as that endearing inventor with a lonely soul, but a heart of gold. In Hayward’s case, what you hear is his voice, which is what gives Charles charisma. The mention also goes to Louise Brealey, who with her role as Hazel manages to give her a feminine approach that ends up carrying the plot forward.

‘Brian and Charles’ is a good proposal, an ideal good humor comedy to be enjoyed in the first session of the afternoon. Sure, it can’t get rid of that elongated short film halo. Despite this, its gentle tone and the charisma of its protagonists allow it to be an impromptu family film, which can be an alternative to titles with a more commercial focus.

Note: 6

The best: The charisma of its protagonists.

Worse: Its plot is nothing special and does not fully exploit its character as a fantasy film.