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BILL: No Great Shakes

BILL: No Great Shakes

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Bill

Bill is the first feature film from the comedy team behind Horrible Histories, a TV show which I have just this year become a huge fan of. For those of you not familiar with it, Horrible Histories is in theory a kid’s history show based on the books of Terry Deary. But what it actually is, is an incredibly funny and informative sketch show that appeals to adults and children alike.

While special episodes are still being made the main cast left a few years ago, and with them they took a legion of fans. Their new show Yonderland is written and performed by them, but is frankly a bit of a disappointment. Although they are all successful comedy writers, their positions on Horrible Histories were majorly as performers. So Yonderland doesn’t quite have the same spark as Horrible Histories did and unfortunately, neither does Bill.

Monty Python It Ain’t

Drawing on their experiences of performing in Horrible Histories the comedy team of Mathew Baynton, Simon FarnabyMartha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond have stuck with what they know their public wants, a historical comedy. Bill is incredibly loosely based on the early life of William Shakespeare (yes, that Bill), and an imagined plot by King Philip of Spain to kill Queen Elizabeth. The very nature of this comedy might make you draw associations with the work of Monty Python. But, sorry to disappoint, it never manages to scale such heights.

Bill
source: Vertigo Films

The problem is that Bill, like Yonderland, isn’t written by the original Horrible Histories writers team, but by the performers themselves. In this case by Ben Willbond and Laurence Rickard. The two are talented comedy writers to say the least, and wrote a good deal on the original TV show, but despite a few good gags the script for Bill is too far flung from Shakespeare’s actual life to be historically interesting and not funny enough to be a raucous comedy. It all feels rather flat and empty, and while it isn’t boring, it certainly isn’t the entertaining farce I was expecting.

However, while Willbond and Rickard’s script lacked depth I feel a lot of the problems in Bill actually stem from the film’s direction. Bill contains many historical references and comic pieces that, while good, always feel as though they could have been delivered better. The task of delivery and presentation rests at the feet of the director, in this case Richard Bracewell. Bracewell is not an experienced director at all, and I spent much of the film feeling that individual scenes could have been shot better, or that funnier performances could have been drawn out of the dialogue. It’s a real shame, as that kind of clever direction would really have added energy to the film.

For The Kids

Bill
source: Vertigo Films

It feels strangely silly to be intellectualising a film which I feel was never meant to be received in this way. While, no doubt, this team meant Bill to be a comedy for all, it was most likely made with younger adults in mind. Indeed, I spent much of the film wondering how younger Horrible Histories fans might enjoy it. To be honest, I think they would have appreciated it more than I did, that being said it’s still not of the quality of the TV show. And while it is unfair to keep comparing Bill to it, these are the terms on which the film is being sold. It’s being sold to fans of Horrible Histories, who will see it expecting a certain standard of comedy, which frankly isn’t there.

A Whole Lot Of Love

It might have been because of my love of Horrible Histories that this film felt so flat for me. But it may also be because the story to Bill isn’t very interesting. Sure, the idea of Shakespeare maturing from a twenty-something layabout to a talented writer is intriguing. But stories of Shakespeare, fictional and otherwise, come by every day, so if you’re going to make yet another ‘spin’ on the life of The Bard it better be pretty damn good.

Bill
source: Vertigo Films

That being said there is nothing very wrong here. The story is clean and straightforward, there are some good gags, and the comedy acting is as superb as I had expected. Baynton is distractingly handsome and sweetlv naïve as Bill, Willbond is charismatic as King Philip of Spain, Howick brings his dramatic A-game as Marlowe, and Rickard really shows off his comic timing in a number of roles.

I feel Farnaby and Howe-Douglas were good but severely underused. It is unfortunate that what actually shows up Bill’s flaws is the talent of its cast. Simply put, fake drama is what makes good jokes work. When there is a lack of atmosphere that’s when jokes bomb. Bracewell’s misunderstanding of how this works doesn’t cast the actors in a bad light, but it makes the film a lesser version of the comedy it could have been

Conclusion

There is nothing to dislike in Bill, it is a nice and easy historical comedy. It will disappoint the Shakespeare fans, and maybe disappoint Horrible Histories fans too, but for the most part many people will find it a likeable comedy. Although, as a feature film in its own right it falls flat. It doesn’t deliver on the potential of its plot, theme and the people who made it. It could have been a fantastic film, but without the depth in its script and the proper energy in its direction it feels like nothing better than simple family fun. That, usually, is not what these guys are about, and it’s certainly not what their fans expect of them.

(N.B. If you’re reading this from outside of the UK and want to know what I’m going on about, there are plenty of Horrible Histories videos available on YouTube, including my favourite of their songs.)

Have you seen Bill? Are you are a Horrible Histories fan? What did you think of the film?

Bill is currently only on release in the UK & Ireland. For your country stay tuned to the release dates on their IMDb page.

(top image source: Vertigo Films)

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