This adaptation of Stephen Fry’s novel leans heavily on the elegant profanity of the source material. An extensive voiceover from disgraced poet-turned-critic Ted Wallace (Roger Allam) contains such mellifluous venom that it alone is almost worth the ticket price. Less successful is the awkwardly contrived plot: recently released from regular work, Ted finds himself at the country house of an estranged chum where miracles may or may not be occurring. The story is coddled by an assertively jovial score and garnished with baroque outbursts of swearing.
