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****
Dir: Sean Foley (15, 89 mins)
A rather excellent and boundlessly silly comedy from the minds behind The Mighty Boosh and Horrible Histories, Julian Barratt and Simon Farnaby, Mindhorn is a very funny and very British romp. Barratt plays Richard Thorncroft, a washed-up actor who was big in the 1980s playing TV detective Mindhorn, an investigator with a robotic eye that can literally see the truth. Set on the Isle of Mann, Mindhorn references many TV shows of that era from Bergerac to Sapphire and Steele via the leather jackets of The Professionals and more. Now somewhat past his prime and struggling to make a living, his last gig being selling orthopaedic socks, Mindern is called out of thespian retirement to negotiate with Russell Tovey’s serial murderer, who has said he will only talk to the 80s detective. Barrett has to stay in character as Mindhorn as events unfold, humiliating himself many times. Essie Smith plays his former co-star/girlfriend, Andrea Riseborough an exasperated copper, Simon Farnaby is Barratt’s former stunt double camping it up with an outrageous Dutch accent, Steve Coogan is Barratt’s now far more famous ex-co-star and Kenneth Branagh gamely cameos as himself. Unapologetically daft, Mindhorn is great fun and will resonate mightily with anyone who lived through the 1980s.
Opens May 5