Dad's Army (2016 film)

Dad's Army (2016 film)
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Oliver Parker
Produced by	Damian Jones
Screenplay by	Hamish McColl
Based on	Dad's Army by David Croft and Jimmy Perry
Starring	Bill Nighy Catherine Zeta-Jones Toby Jones Tom Courtenay Michael Gambon Blake Harrison Daniel Mays Bill Paterson
Music by	Charlie Mole
Cinematography	Christopher Ross
Edited by	Guy Bensley
Production company	DJ Films
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	5 February 2016 (2016-02-05) (United Kingdom)
Running time	100 minutes[1]
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$12.8 million[2]

Dad's Army is a 2016 British war comedy film, based on the BBC television sitcom Dad's Army. Directed by Oliver Parker, set in 1944, after the events depicted in the television series. The story sees Catherine Zeta-Jones play an elegant journalist, who is sent to report on the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon. This is all before MI5 discovers that there is a German spy hiding in the fictional British town.

The production design was by Simon Bowles, and the cinematography by Christopher Ross. The film was released on 5 February 2016 in the United Kingdom by Universal Pictures. DVD and Blu-Ray released in the United Kingdom on 13 June 2016. It received negative reviews from critics.

Plot

It is the summer of 1944 and the Invasion of Normandy is coming soon. In Walmington-on-Sea, Captain Mainwaring's Home Guard is suffering from a lack of luck and appreciation, as well as feeling useless. This is until an elegant journalist, Rose Winters (Catherine Zeta-Jones) arrives to cover a report on the platoon's motives and activities. All the men are charmed by her presence, especially Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson, causing a feud with the townsfolk, especially the platoon's wives. Meanwhile, MI5 have detected a radio signal transmitted from Walmington towards Berlin, believed to be the work of a Nazi spy. MI5's Major Cunningham (Mark Tandy) and Captain Meeks (Andrew Havill) locate Captain Mainwaring and inform him of the enemy presence, stating that "it could be anyone". This news gives the Home Guard a chance to make a real difference in the war. The troop begin to search for the spy, until Rose informs them that it is Sergeant Wilson.

Captain Mainwaring believes Rose and arrests Wilson. Meanwhile, Private Godfrey's sisters (Julia Foster and Annette Crosbie) speculate from their investigative evidence that Rose is the foreign agent among them. Winters records the information that the base set at Dover is a dummy one for German aircraft. The platoon and their wives rally to stop Winters and they engage in dangerous cross-fire with a German U-boat and a bunch of Wehrmacht soldiers who are helping Winters escape. The U-boat flees without Winters boarding. Mainwaring arrests Winters and hands her over to MI5. The troop then parade through Walmington, having fought off the Nazis, and are congratulated by Colonel Theakes. Mainwaring and Wilson reconcile. Theakes congratulates the platoon further by telling them that they have played a prominent part in the war effort.

Cast

Ian Lavender makes a cameo as Brigadier Pritchard, providing a link with the original series,^[3] Frank Williams reprises his role as the Vicar.^[4] The regular series character of the Verger Maurice Yeatman was not recreated for the film. Mrs. Mainwaring, who was a completely unseen character for the whole of the original series, now has a prominently visible role in the film, where she is portrayed as a Chief Volunteer of the local Auxiliary Territorial Service, and is even more pompous, domineering and vociferous than her husband.^[5]

Production

Filming began in Yorkshire in October 2014.^[6][7] Principal photography took place at North Landing, Flamborough Head and Bridlington. The East Riding Theatre in Beverley was used for Church Hall/Parade room and Captain Mainwaring's office. Sections of the film were also captured in Leeds and Pickering.^[8] Jones' van from the original television series, on loan from the Dad's Army Museum, was used in the film.

Location filming for the film, at North Landing, Flamborough Head, Yorkshire. The scene involved German soldiers shooting with rifles and machine gun from behind their landing craft, at some of Captain Mainwaring's platoon. These are taking shelter behind 'concrete' anti-tank emplacements.

Michael Gambon as Private Godfrey, on the set of Dad's Army in October 2014. Filming took place on the beach at North Landing, Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, and at nearby Bridlington.

Reception

Dad's Army has received generally negative reviews from critics, though Toby Jones' performance was praised. The film currently has a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9.^[9] On Metacritic, it has a score of 38 out of 100, based on 7 critics, which indicates "generally unfavourable reviews".^[10]

Sean O'Grady, of The Independent, gave the film a five star review, remarking that rather than threatening the series' legacy, it "surpasses the original", calling it a "well-crafted reproduction" containing all the elements that made the original so clever, durable and loveable.^[11]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian was slightly less convinced, giving it two stars, stating that "it’s hard to escape the sinking feeling that this is a waste of talent – that this is a good-natured, well-meaning but pointless kind of Brit-comedy ancestor worship; paying elaborate homage to a TV show that got it right the first time."^[12]

Empire rated it two stars describing the plot as "moderately entertaining bunkum" and that "as a whole it’s an inessential oddity — amiable enough but also over-reverential and unlikely to leave a lasting impression".^[13]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dad's Army (2016 film).

• Dad's Army at the Internet Movie Database
• Dad's Army at British Comedy Guide