A Cock and Bull Story

Spoof film of the making of the unfilmable novel, 'The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.'

Like 24-Hour Party people, this does come across as a little self-indulgent but the chemistry between the actors is good and there are plenty of laughs.

It flicks in between past and present and also real time and filming quite a bit and can feel disjointed until get used to it.

Has its moments but not as enjoyable as The Trip which Coogan and Brydon went on to do.

Rubbish.... the first moment in the film was great, then all down hill....wish i never started watching wish i never payed the see it....Oh well...live and learn.

I didn't know what to expect but assumed it would be a costume piece bast on the Tristram Shandy book, and that it wouldn't be very good. As it turned out it wasn't the film of the book but I quite enjoyed it, particularly the badinage between Steeve Coogan, who I am a fan of (though I haven't liked everything he's done, particularly his Hollywood stuff) and Rob Bryden

Definitely worth watching, I saw it when it came out but preferred seeing it recently after watching 'The Trip' on BBC 2, Steve Coogan is great at being an arrogant git. Refreshingly un-American and underplayed. Enjoyable.

When trying to film an unfilmable book, why not just film the process of filming an unfilmable book and leave it at that? Therefore, ‘A C**k and Bull Story’ comes into being, a fictionalised film about a group of Brits trying to film ‘Tristram Shandy’. Michael Winterbottom has always been a maverick director who likes to span genres as well as experiment in film. I came across ‘C**k and Bull’ after watching the 6 part TV series ‘The Trip’. Like the show ‘C**k and Bull’ stars Steve Coogan and to a lesser degree, Rob Brydon. The two are also similar in that the banter between the actors is a core element of the film; half-truth, half fiction; elements of their real lives are interwoven into the improvisation. Where things start to differ is in the narrative. ‘C**k and Bull’ is an unconventional film, but it is no less entertaining for it. Elements from the finished ‘Tristram Shandy’ film are spliced with the cast and crew making the film, and the dramas that go on backstage. The film is less about the film adaptation process and more a character study of a group of people. It is Coogan, as his alter ego self and Tristram, who carries the film. He is self-deprecating, funny and willing to play with the stereotypes that the media have created for him. In the film he is a lady’s man trying to settle down, but finding it difficult. Where does the fiction start and end? You never find out and are not supposed to. In the end some people will come out of ‘A C**k and Bull Story’ a little confused, not much happens and you never discover if an unfilmable book is in fact filmable. However, this is never the real point of the film and as a funny, yet sad, human drama I found it incredibly interesting. One for the film curious.