Film Review: Absolutely Anything

He’s not doing too badly as a Hollywood star either, with recurring roles in big franchises such as Mission Impossible and Star Trek. Regardless of what he’s filming, he always excels in bringing a likeable humour to a character. Absolutely Anything sees Neil (Pegg) being randomly selected by Intergalactic Aliens and bestowed with the power to do anything as a test subject to see if the Human Race is worth being kept alive. Kate Beckinsale appears as Pegg’s love interest Catherine and Robin Williams voices Dennis (Pegg’s dog) in his final film before his tragic death last year. Plenty of guest appearances are made with Eddie Izzard, Sanjeev Baskhar, Meera Syal and there’s even a cameo from the Monty Python gang as the bizarre alien council that decide to empower Pegg. So, plenty of talent in the cast for a medium-sized British film, does it manage to absolutely entertain us?

Well no, it doesn’t really. Despite the comic abilities of all involved Absolutely Anything fails to live up to expectations and rather lamely blunders through towards the obvious ending. The story is hardly original, which in itself isn’t a problem, but there seems to be a lack of creativity in any of the methods used to convey what’s going on. Think of it like a British version of Bruce Almighty, but instead of the rubber faced Jim Carrey bringing flair to the weird and wonderful situations it’s just blandness and predictable. There’s the odd joke that raises a smirk but the script largely fails to make use of the talents of Simon Pegg and especially Robin Williams. In fact, save for the swearing and rare adult orientated scene, you might think that this was aimed more at the PG market rather than the 12A, such is the level of the plot devices and tone of the film. It’s a shame really, especially for Robin Williams who deserves better for his final film role, but also for Simon Pegg who I always usually enjoy watching. He seems to be doing a roaring trade in his Hollywood career but for the last few years has been stuck in the mud in the quintessentially British comedies that he originally made his name in.

Absolutely Anything is largely forgettable, uninspiring stuff that won’t even be worth collecting on DVD when it’s released. It may just sneak onto your Netflix or Amazon Prime watchlist when you’re at a loose end but aside from that it’s better to just enjoy classic Pegg in Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz instead.

Rating: 5/10

Author: Steve, Bristol store.