Directed by Stephen Gallacher and written by Ronan McCabe, after an unsuccessful attempt at a very important delivery, a courier and the recipient’s parents must replace the orders content – Norwegian Semen. Starring: Siobhan Finneran, Tom Rosenthal and Paul Chahidi.
First off, Siobhan Finneran is an underappreciated British treasure, she’s absolutely hilarious but has also delivered shattering dramatic performances, her range is one of the best in British acting right now. She has a particular talent for old-school silly comedy and The Stork fits squarely in that category. It gives her the opportunity to deliver such a classic performance of blundering misunderstandings that are also some great bits of writing. It feels especially relevant as so often today, with the constantly growing modern terms, that they can find themselves garbled into entertaining nonsense by those without their finger on the pulse.
She works very well alongside Tom Rosenthal and Paul Chahidi, they make for a very enjoyable trio. Rosenthal gives viewers that quintessentially clumsy but well intentioned vibe. While Chahidi has that naturally, reasonable calm demeanour, levelling out his wife’s (Finneran) quick to anger temperament. They’re all pros at this type of comedy so it’s no surprise that it feels effortless for all three of them.
That type being very much in the world of The Royle Family, Benidorm and maybe a bit of Keeping up Appearances. Ronan McCabe creates a mix of a modern topic with an old-fashioned tone. It works but at the same time it does strangely feel geared to an older audience. It’s straying fairly far from a modern style that it doesn’t always hit as strongly as it could, while the story itself works well. It’s flitting between the 1990s to today, with a particular emphasis on a 2000s vibe in the opening, it’s a slightly unusual mix.
Part of that is that it also feels like it’s needs an injection of bigger chaos with the editing. It feels as though it’s operating on a dramatic level, rather than truly leaning into the little tornado of mayhem that these characters have created for themselves. However, the visual quality is strong, there’s a lovely clarity to the cinematography, and the location was well chosen. There’s also good framing work to keep things grounded without becoming basic.
The Stork is funny and led by an excellent trio of actors who all give strong performances. It’s shot well and has a great story which creates an enjoyable amount of chaos, but it feels like it’s holding back. The dialogue captures the havoc, but it doesn’t feel like that expands to every element of the film. It feels as if it’s swaying further into the past of British comedic stylings than it needs to, missing out on a bigger, bolder energy to truly appreciate the ridiculous nature of their predicament.
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