DAD’S ARMY: A Pale Imitation Of The TV Series

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I love the TV show Dad’s Army. Originally aired between 1968 and 1977, it is a show that remains hugely popular to this day, and I can watch it every Saturday night on BBC Two and listen to the radio version every Monday morning on BBC Radio 4 Extra. Like all incredible BBC comedies, it makes up a part of the British psyche and its characters and catchphrases are legendary.

So why do you think, when a show is so familiar and so loved, that people decide to create a film version? I have no idea. But while I was perturbed on first reading about this film, I decided to do what I do with most things, and give it a chance. A year later and with a brilliant cast in tow, I was even a bit optimistic. However, I was probably right to stick with my first thoughts, because this Dad’s Army film is just a pale imitation of the classic TV show.

In The Beginning

As I said, I’m a huge fan of the original TV show, but I get that what’s brilliant and life defining to us Brits is pretty small and quaint to the rest of the world. So let me break down the origins of this film for you.

In the UK, during WWII, small towns would have a homeguard. This homeguard was mainly made up of men who had fought in WWI, but were far too old to fight again (hence the nickname Dad’s Army), along with a few teenage boys and people who couldn’t fight on medical grounds. Their jobs were pretty simple (guarding factories, looking out for the airborne enemy), and because of their age they weren’t too sprightly. This gained them a reputation for being a bit daft and slow; an impression that stalks them even today.

source: Universal Studios
source: Universal Studios

It was the actor Jimmy Perry who first originated the Dad’s Army story. Creating the story from his own experiences as a young man in the homeguard, he and David Croft eventually became the writers of a show that no one thought would work, and which went on to run for nine years. The show was unusual at the time and still, to this day, stands out as one of only a few TV shows to focus on older characters. Its success made it a huge part of British culture, and because of this a new film was obviously going to be a hard sell.

Stupid Boys

I have a great love and respect for the actors in this film, and they were chosen well in matching their original TV counterparts. They also made the concept of a film appear quite promising. However, as the film approached and interviews with the cast abounded, I started to have my doubts.

More and more, I heard that they had taken their roles because one or another of the actors had signed up. Notoriously, if an actor takes a role because of a specific actor or director’s attachment to a project, the quality of the script has been overlooked. It’s as though they assume their colleague have already read it, and approved of it. All of which led me to the question: is this actually going to turn into a bit of an embarrassment?

The answer is, for such talented actors, in Dad’s Army they are very unimpressive. While I can understand that this generation of actors didn’t want to do impressions to match the actions of their TV counterparts, what they did give didn’t feel like much at all. Toby Jones as Mainwaring gives it a good try, but all of Arthur Lowe’s outlandish self-confidence is gone from the role. Bill Nighy is quite lovely as Wilson, but then he’s just sort of playing Bill Nighy. The rest of the cast give it a good go but Tom Courtenay doesn’t quite give the energy you’d expect from Jonesy and Michael Gambon is far too silly as Godfrey. That’s what bothered me more than anything really, the silliness.

We’re Doomed

The narrative, from start to finish, is all about the Walmington homeguard being silly. And that was never what made them funny. What made these men so amusing was the seriousness with which they took their jobs, and we respected them for it. They had bad luck, and always ended up in the most amusing of situations. But it always felt like this was accidental; it never felt, the way it does in this film, that they were silly men being made fun of.

I think this was a bit of a misstep by director Oliver Parker. While he handles the feel-good British humour well, there’s just no comic atmosphere and the only laughs are gleaned from obvious jokes and simplistic physical comedy.

source: Universal Studios
source: Universal Studios

What is more, so many things about this script just aren’t right. The film’s plot is based around the search for a German spy, and wouldn’t you know it? A sexy female reporter (Catherine Zeta-Jones), cut from a book of stereotypes, turns up in Walmington. She’s so obvious, in fact, that I gleaned she was the German spy purely from the trailer. You’d think that screenwriter Hamish McColl would lead you on a merry dance as you tried to figure out who the spy was, but no, you find out within ten minutes. And it is not long after the opening joke, which the trailer has already provided the punchline for. The writing, in short, leaves you with zero mystery or suspense.

Added to this is the fact that every running joke we loved from the series is torn up. Mainwaring’s wife (like Norm’s in Cheers) is never seen, Mainwaring’s superiors always get his name wrong, and we never know for sure if Wilson is Pike’s dad. These were the jokes, classic jokes, which have been completely left behind for this film. Mainwaring’s wife is a major character and every other thing we loved about the series has been corrected. Even Hodges, Mainwaring’s nemesis, is relegated to a small inconsequential role.

The female cast in this film is huge, considering the original TV show, and the actresses are some of the best Britain has to offer. Though while I can understand a writer wanting to give more time to the women mentioned in the series, when you give more time to previously invisible female characters it means there is a lot less time to watch our favourite leads. That’s why we’re there in the first place.

source: Universal Studios
source: Universal Studios

Jimmy Perry, David Croft’s widow and daughter all acted as executive producers on this feature. I want to believe that they wouldn’t let a below-par script pass, but it would seem they did. Additionally, as much as the actors like to remark on the fun they had working together, and how they wanted to do something that stood apart from the original series, this film just isn’t good enough. I could be all soft and nostalgic about it, but frankly a story about the Walmington homeguard forgetting themselves over a rather obvious femme fatale doesn’t come close to the razor sharp situation comedy that I know and love.

Don’t Panic

I could write you a long list of all the things I didn’t like about this film, because that’s the fan in me. Though, even as a film critic I would still say it’s quite boring. It just didn’t do anything for me, I didn’t find it interesting or funny, and found myself eager for Saturday night’s repeat showing of the TV show.

That being said though, I went to see this film with my dad. He liked it, and if the laughter of a cinema filled with silver haired pensioners is anything to go by, they liked it too. The fact of the matter is that I think about these things differently, and I know that. My love of Dad’s Army is based on reasons other than those of the majority of people I saw the film with. I was there for the comedy writing and performances that stopped in 1977, but I think everyone else was just there for the fun of it. And fun they seemed to have.

Conclusion

As a film, Dad’s Army is less than average. As an adaptation of the original BBC series, it’s poor. More than anything, I think it lacked in writing and performances. But then, a huge question mark looms over this film for me.

You see, as big a fan as I am, there is also something to be said for the subjectivity of others. Maybe that large, senior crowd saw something that I didn’t. But while there’s always the chance that someone else might like this film, I think they’d be much better off sticking to the original TV show. There’s nothing quite like it.

Are you fan of the original Dad’s Army TV series? What did you think of the film? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Dad’s Army is currently on release in the UK & US, for the release date in your country check here.

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