“I’VE GOT NO CHOICE. I CAN’T DO WHAT EVERYBODY ELSE DOES, I CAN’T BE A CIVILIAN, I’VE NO BACKBONE. I GOT A FUNNY BONE INSTEAD” so proclaims Funny Cow, the titular comedienne of the formidably funny film, FUNNY COW.
FUNNY COW charts the rise to stardom of a female comedienne through the 1970’s and 1980’s, set against the backdrop of working men’s clubs and the stand-up comedy circuit in the North of England.
FUNNY COW traces her troubled childhood through her turbulent adult relationships, and shows how the Funny Cow uses the raw material of her life experiences to bring her unique style of comedy to the stage.
The story covers four decades and jumps back and forth, delivering a series of knock-out punchlines. Three different actors play Funny Cow, linked through the ages by the colour red, from the “funny calf” carrying a red balloon to the mature moo in distinctive red dress. It’s a bold move that works, making her visually acute while boldly emblazoning her individualism, strength and peculiarity.
In a peak performance, Maxine Peake plays the role of the mature ‘Funny Cow’ with the film’s writer, Tony Pitts, playing her tragic soul mate ‘Bob’.
Paddy Considine is marvellous as the mild mannered middle class lover and bookseller who casts himself as her knight in shining armour, only Funny Cow doesn’t want to be rescued and tethered to domesticity and motherhood.
Choice casting is also evident in Stephen Graham playing two roles as her brother, Mike, and her dad, and the great Alun Armstrong as Lenny, a washed up comic who becomes Funny Cow’s unofficial mentor.
Macy Shackleton makes a memorable debut as Funny Calf.
Deftly directed by Adrian Shergold, FUNNY COW boasts a showcase soundtrack by critically acclaimed musician/songwriter Richard Hawley who not only composed original score and songs for the picture but also appears in the film with Corinne Bailey- Rae as a club singing duo.
FUNNY COW walks a tightrope between challenging the male ego, not always the easiest option amid a sea of beer-swilling chauvinists, and affirming preconceptions. Peak is at her most prickly when demonstrating a talon tongued talent developed for dispatching hecklers with withering one-liners.
FUNNY COW also strips the stereotype of the successful comedienne – hefty, dykey or Jewish – while acknowledging the truism that humour is an armour against the hostilities hurled against women by men.