After seeing the superb The Phantom of the Open the other day at Cineworld, I followed with a viewing of The Nan Movie starring Catherine Tate and Mathew Horne, a film that is based on the character from Catherine Tate’s TV series.
Most of you will know of the character but in this new film, The Nan (Tate) sets on a journey to Ireland to see her dying sister (Katherine Parkinson) and try to mend the broken relationship, along the way Nan meets a militant vegan arsonist, raucous rugby teams, goes on an all-night rave and has a motorcycle cop (traffic warden) on her tail with a vendetta.
All this happens on the journey and Nan gives us a backstory to her character and her sister through a selection of flashback stories telling her grandson (Mathew Horne) about his Auntie Nell (Parkinson).
Now if you are a massive fan of Tate’s character then you will probably be over the moon that after almost 15 years the character has hit the big screen, but I have to say that The Nan really works better as a character with short sketches in the TV show, yes there are those moments that did make me smile, but overall the humour just isn’t there for me, yes I know I’m upsetting the die-hard fans, but much like Mrs Brown’s Boys Da Movie and Keith Lemon: The Movie, The Nan just really didn’t need a movie, although This film is still better than those two.
It was a great idea to bring in the flashbacks for the backstory and I did enjoy finding out a little more about the character and why Nan turned out the way she did, but the rest of the film just seemed to be an excuse to bring the character to the big screen and just try and get away with doing the most stupid of things to try and make it a comedy, which is where sadly it falls flat.
I went in to see The Nan with an open mind, but sadly it really wasn’t for me. Yes they have kept those foul-mouthed lines in that we all know the character for, although they are a little limited to maybe keep the 15 certificate, but overall I just felt that this is a movie that we really didn’t need, maybe a half-hour TV special would have worked better.
The Nan is probably going to appeal to the die-hard fans of the character and yet again it may not, but this is purely my take on the film and it’s up to you to make up your own mind if you go and check out the film in the cinema or wait for it to arrive on one of the streaming platforms.
What a load of old ...
Movie title: The Nan Movie
Movie description: Catherine Tate's iconic character Nan hits the big screen as she goes on a wild road trip from London to Ireland with her grandson Jamie (Mathew Horne) to make amends with her estranged sister Nell (Katherine Parkinson).
Date published: March 20, 2022
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 35m
Director(s): Josie Rourke
Actor(s): Catherine Tate, Mathew Horne, Katherine Parkinson
Genre: Comedy
Summary
Sadly the film really falls flat and may not be the comedy that many fans of Catherine Tate’s Nan were expecting!
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
