The British comedy ‘A Bunch Of Amateurs‘ is extraordinary in its use of worlds within worlds. It stars Burt Reynolds as an ageing action star, hoodwinked into being the main event at a rural British production of King Lear; the parallels between the film and the play-within-the-film are clear, but the film goes further – with an extraordinary press conference at which Reynolds is flanked by two Virgin Atlantic flight attendants and billowing red company flags. It could almost be passed off as part of his OTT arrival, or as a mirror to the beer sponsored play (witness the oafishly imagined ‘King Beer’), but not quite.
In the village, Reynolds is confronted by a familiar cast of British eccentrics, and slowly learns the folly of his arrogant ways – except it’s hard to tell exactly when, as his features appear to have been ironed into submission. As it’s King Lear, there are yet more comparisons to be drawn, more realities for the writers to raddle in their creative looms. Reynolds does Lear’s madness scene for real after driving a mobile library offroad in a rainstorm, after reaching his own breaking point – and has problems with his daughter (just like Lear!).
These layers are laid on so heavily that, after a while, you begin to suspect the whole film is an elaborate prank. The actors clearly had a wonderful time making it. The DVD extras boast interviews divided up into sections in which each raves about how wonderful the others were. Faced with such luvvieness, it’s easy to be cynical. In fact there are several good performances (Samantha Bond in particular), and the odd decent joke, but it’s not enough when you’ve seen what TV can do with such material (see Slings & Arrows).
News hour, with Jerry Caesar 