Starring: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Jeremy Northam, Kelly Macdonald, Dylan Moran, David Walliams, Ashley Jensen, Stephen Fry
Cert: 15
Released: 20th January 2006

Tristram Shandy (Coogan) is an 18th Century gentleman and wishes to tell the story of his life. Unfortunately it's not as easy a task as one would think for there are not many aspects of a person's life that allows for a perfectly linear and concise narrative.

Thus, Tristram's story sweeps backwards and forwards in time as backstories and sidelines are necessitated for each family member as they are introduced. Mainly his family comprises of his father (Coogan again), mother, nanny and uncle (Brydon). The occasional innocuous comment from these people is all that is needed to forces the tale off on another tangent to derive further explanation and elucidation.

Tristram mainly narrates the story but also steps in and out of the flashback scenes to discuss details with the audience as well as interacting with the ghosts of his past. But he does that as Tristram and as Steve Coogan (Coogan again) in an attempt to draw light on an already confusing premise.

As well as Tristram's story, which never actually gets any further than his birth (aside from a 'window incident' during his childhood to try to explain the film's title) and Coogan stepping out of character to elucidate, matters are complicated further by a documentary-style look behind the scenes. The film starts with Coogan and Brydon chatting away in make-up before officially starting and then begins to follow the cast and crew between takes behind the scenes.

The adaptation of the novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Stern, is inextricably meshed with the making of the film and the private affairs of Coogan which range from on-set insecurities to behind-the-back adultery. At every turn Coogan is desperate to keep control of every aspect of his life but is faced with constant adversity because of it.

Any novel adaptation is going to receive a certain amount of criticism from its fans and those of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman could have a field day. A Cock And Bull Story is more a compilation of scenes from the novel so seems more like a feature length sketch show. It watches like an extended episode of Extras as Coogan nit-picks to ensure his part is always the biggest and juggles his (fictional) private life, Brydon incessantly rambles on about inanities, the director (Northam) attempts to make an unmakeable film whilst financiers ponder shutting the production down. All the while, with every reference and personal preference made to the novel results in another adapted scene no matter how abstract (including a black screen at one stage).

Additional complications and distractions come from an array of co-stars including a film studies obsessed assistant (Naomie Harris), a detail intense historical expert (Mark Williams), Coogan's girlfriend (Kelly MacDonald) and their child and the enthusiastic 'real' star, Gillian Anderson.

It might appear to be a too clever premise on face value but with humour to be found on every level (from puerile knob gags to 'art imitating life' self-referential satire) it should appeal to a wide selection of viewers. Two particular gems of in-story irony stand out. There's a sub-plot involving a media story of Coogan's sordid sex-night with a lap dancer and then later there are the cast's opinions of the film after a test screening.
 
Ultimately this is a Coogan and Brydon film and their on-off-screen banter is worth the ticket price alone. Coogan comes across as a self-obsessed egotist with a wayward libido and Brydon is an innocent fish-out-of-water amongst the film professionals. They are quite the Laurel and Hardy.

A Cock And Bull Story is an adaptation of the themes of the novel rather than the actual story itself. The themes of the film are the notions that life is complicated, chaotic, unplannable and loaded with disappointment and isolation. It could be deemed to be an incredibly clever, multilayered, postmodern satire that keeps the audience on its toes with its convoluted references. At the same time it could be deemed to have its head so far up itself that it's a series of private jokes that ultimately just alienate the audience.

I loved it but the Mrs didn't. Go figure.