The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island

Okey dokey, hope you all had good weekends (the new rule is, I don't blog on weekends unless I'm snowed in or have nothing better to do). I certainly did. I was turned on to a delightful comedy movie short by Simone of this excellent comedy review web log. That movie short was 'The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island', a touching 24 minute comedy written by Tim Key and Tom Basden and directed by James Griffiths of Moxie Pictures, whose stable includes such heavyweights as Kevin Smith and Wes Anderson. It was nominated for a BAFTA in the 2007 awards but lost out (rather unfairly, I feel) to Paddy Considine's Dog Altogether.

The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island is a poignant, witty and touching tale of a troubled folk singer playing a one-off gig for his number one fan for the princely sum of £500,000. Along the way, he learns a few home truths and finds his passion for music reignited by the bumbling charm of multi-millionaire Charles.

If you have a few spare minutes (and your internet buffers faster than mine) then the film can viewed here on Moxie's website (click on the black box to begin). I would seriously suggest watching the film before reading this (it's better for all parties that way). Now, as a huge Cowards fan I am probably more than a little biased towards anything involving messers Key, Basden, Woolf or Golaszewski, however even from the opening few seconds it became abundantly clear why this particular offering received such high praise.

We open with a black screen and banter while Basden attemps the intro of one of the original songs he composed for 'Herb McGwyer'. It then cuts to a engineered version of the song as we see McGwyer (Basden, sporting some marvellous facial hair) on a boat carving its way towards the island. Credits intersperse the action and McGwyer touches the spray with an outstretched hand, before we see Charles (Key) slip his waders on and move out to meet McGwyer. The conversation that follows as McGwyer disembarks sets the tone for the rest of the film. Anyone familiar with Cowards or with Key's writing will easily recognise the classic style of the dialogue, all beautifully shot, filtered, naturally lit and stunningly directed. The lion's share of Griffith's previous body of work is in advertising and there are hints of that particular fingerprint in 'Herb McGwyer', with the filtered shots, laced with the optimism of today's high production value adverts, though the film doesn't suffer for this fact.

As Charles, a lottery winner and occupant of the titular Wallis Island, Key gives a definitive performance, featuring the beautiful, understated, fumbling realism that he is so truly adept at (see Radio 4's All Bar Luke for details). Like Luke Walsall, Charles is a both comic and tragic simultaneously and more than this, he's painfully human. There's a certain wide-eyed innocent charm to Charles that instantly endears him to the viewer. Basden and Key (and their Cowards counterparts) seem to be to coax out far more believable performances than a good deal of full-length movies or TV shows could ever dream of.

Basden, as the eponymous Herb McGwyer 'the nice guy of folk' gives an equally human turn, with tremendous comic timing and rapport with long-time comedy comrade Key. Throughout the film, the layers of McGwyer's personality are slowly peeled back to reveal a troubled folkie suffering in the pit of depression, having sold out to the corporations and suffering from a loss of motivation, though insists that the 'cool half million' isn't his primary motive (there's some beautiful foreshadowing in the money scene involving apples). The scenes of revelation involving the disaffected musician showcase Basden's considerable talent and the scene where Herb launches his diva-like tirade at Charles is a masterclass in comedy drama.

The direction is very good with a number of imaginative transitions (the one from the kitchen to the bathroom is pure genius and oddly reminds me of Wallace and Gromit- in a good way) and generally clever, insightful decisions made on shooting and particularly lighting. The concert scene is beautifully shot and remarkably moving for a comedy.

Naturally there are some classic lines in the film, one that immediately springs to mind is the early sequence where Charles explains that the dripping tap 'in a way, works too well', the wonderful 'never meet your heroes... again. It's another Le Carre' and of course the scene were Charles reveals the venue (and indeed audience size) to Herb.

A special mention really must go to Basden's compositions, created especially for the film. Basden has a great reputation as a comedian with acoustic guitar and capo in hand, but one mustn't overlook the sheer quality of the folk songs that he composed for Herb McGwyer. Every song that Herb performs throughout the film is easily of releasable quality and a number feature clever chord changes and inspirational chourses. From the catchy 'Raspberry Fair' (from the Hewlett Packard ads...) to the Nick Drake-esque 'Sky Child' featured at the beginning, middle and end of the picture.

In short, The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island is one of the finest short films I have ever had the pleasure of viewing. Both Key and Basden's performances are perfectly judged and this charming, funny and ultimately poignant tale is one that will live long in my memory and unbelievably it can be seen for free on the internet. If I had stars to dish out, it would be given five, alas I do not yet have the power to award official ratings to films. Basden and Key are a terrific partnership (whose other two marvellous shorts can be viewed here on Myspace) and I simply cannot wait to see 'Party', the pair's most recent collaboration, when it begins its London run in March. They are two of the very brightest talents in British comedy (surely we can petition the Beeb for a new series of Cowards too...) and their brilliance is displayed nowhere more prominently than in 'Herb McGwyer'.