TV-MA | 1h 29m | Comedy, Dark Comedy | 2017
Once-celebrated poet Ted Wallace (Roger Allam) now makes a living out of sharp insults, strong drinks, and general irritation. His career as a theater critic is as dry as his wit. But that doesn’t stop him offending the wrong people and getting canned, sending him deeper into the bottle.
But instead of sulking at his usual pub as a failed critic, Ted is pulled into a far stranger assignment in “The Hippopotamus.” Dispatched to the sprawling English estate, Swafford Hall, he’s asked to look into rumors of something decidedly unusual unfolding behind its genteel façade.
The chatter around the manor isn’t about hunting, gardening, or how to serve the port. It’s about supposed “miracles” that are turning this stately home into a magnet for gossip. Between eccentric relatives and wide-eyed believers, the poet is expected to play detective and see if divine intervention is really at work—or if it’s just the wine talking.
What follows is a countryside romp filled with aristocratic absurdity, oddball schemes, and Allam gleefully skewering everyone who crosses his path.
Adapted from Stephen Fry’s 1994 eponymous comic novel, the film never quite decides if it’s satire, mystery, or farce; it thrives on a blend of all three, held together by its lead’s sharp tongue and total lack of reverence.
The invitation comes from his goddaughter Jane Swann (Emily Berrington), who insists there’s something divine, or at least headline-worthy, going on out in the countryside.
Ted discovers that the Logans, a family marinated in privilege, have been putting their faith in young David (Tommy Knight), a teenager with the face of an angel and the poetry of a grade school student.
The boy claims to heal the sick, soothe the lame, and even save the family horse from a one-way trip to the glue factory. Ted, naturally, isn’t impressed though the combination of brandy and aristocratic nonsense keeps him from leaving too quickly.
Between wine-soaked dinners, rambling monologues, and the occasional arguments, Ted lumbers through the manor poking holes in every story he hears. His disbelief grows with each awkward recital and miraculous anecdote, but so does his enjoyment of free drinks and free lodging.
Ted’s job is less a quest for truth than a chance to watch a pompous household tie itself in knots, and Ted, for all his cynicism, isn’t about to waste the show.
A Saucy Stumble through Fry’s World
Roger Allam fits the role of Ted like a worn-out tweed jacket—a bit frayed, but still holding together. His barbed wit and endless grumbling are meant to carry the film even when the mystery itself drags its heels.
Allam is having fun playing a man who would rather quote bad poetry and down another glass than actually solve anything. That mix of charm and irritability can be fun to watch at times, even when the story feels more like a pub anecdote than a polished investigation.
The supporting cast leans into the eccentricity with gusto, sometimes so much so that it feels like a stage play projected straight into your living room. Fiona Shaw, Matthew Modine, Tim McInnerny are all exaggerated, all more or less amusing, and all a little larger than life.
The theatrics fit the tone of the film, though viewers may be wondering if the director told them to act for a crowd three fields over. That sort of broadness is part of the package: It is stagey British comedy dressed in manor-house wallpaper.
Be warned, though. For all its posh exteriors, this is not a Sunday-afternoon tea film. The humor leans into Fry’s trademark raunch and vulgarity, which some will find hilarious and others exhausting.
Layered over that is Ted’s anti-divine posture, bound to rankle some of the devout while leaving others to see him as just another flawed, misguided soul in need of help. What emerges isn’t just a comedy, but a provocation, one that mixes laughter, discomfort, and the faintest flicker of sympathy.
“The Hippopotamus” is available on GanJingWorld.
‘The Hippopotamus’
Director: John Jencks
Starring: Roger Allam, Tim Charles, Rod Glenn
TV-MA
Running Time: 1 hour, 29 minutes
Release Date: Aug. 1, 2017
Rated: 2 1/2 stars out of 5
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