Book Review: How Not To Grow Up

Author: Richard Herring

First Published: May 2010

Tardy Review date: 8 March 2011

Lots of laughs and some truly touching moments

I'll be honest with you up front, I'm a Richard Herring fan.  I lost track of him for a few years when he stopped being on the telly, but over the last couple of years I've seen him a few times live and I'm an avid listener to his podcasts.  Just a couple of weeks ago I saw him doing his latest show 'Christ on a bike' in Swindon.  The theatre wasn't exactly packed, but the people who were there had a good time in a show that's both clever and funny.

And those two words - clever and funny - sum up Herring's work pretty well.  He often refers to the fact that me makes a living telling cock jokes, and there's certainly a crude and childish side to his routines, but it's a rare Herring performance that doesn't also make you think and question your way of thinking.  I wouldn't say How Not To Grow Up is challenging in the same way, but it's often thoughtful and Herring's innate honesty and self-examination are a common theme throughout.

It's definitely a funny book.  I found myself laughing out loud a few times whilst reading, and that's something I never do with books.  I usually think it's a bit weird when people say a book make them laugh out loud, and the most they usually provoke in me is a reserved smile, but this book definitely provoked the odd guffaw.

For much of the book RH is approaching 40 and railing against the idea of having to become a grown up.  He doesn't want to do it and he fights against it with every fibre of his being, seeking debauchery and rebellion as the big date looms.  Convincing himself that he's happy as he is, he nonetheless manages to appear pretty fed up.  As a reader it's easy to see the symptoms of a mid life crisis and when he's in 'author' mode, describing the events, Herring is able to pick apart his previous insecurities and disillusions.  He still manages, though, to present them as he felt them at the time: real and valid.

It's Herring's comfort in being able to lay his life open, warts and all, that make the whole thing hang together so well and allows the reader to laugh at him - he, as the writer with 20:20 hindsight, is laughing at himself while he tells the tale, so we're just joining in.

Herring's examination into his experiences asks whether this rebellion against growing up is a modern symptom or just part of being human.  Whilst this isn't necessarily a ground breaking investigation, his discussions around it will certainly chime with anyone of a similar age and give the book a more relevant feel, rather than just becoming a tale of a stand-up comic's fits of debauchery.

As the book progresses, he starts to examine the balance in keeping the good aspects of childhood and throwing away the bad.  He describes this as the good aspects of childishness (the sense of wonderment and openness) and the bad aspects (the pettiness and being self-centred). I remember Neil Gaiman once describing it as the difference between being childlike and childish, which I think sums it up well.

The final two chapters of the book are absolutely superb and I honestly can't remember the last time I enjoyed the ending of a book so much.  The penultimate chapter creates a genuinely touching and moving sense of the wonder there is to be found just by looking out at the stars and feeling happy.  It's the sort of thing that could easily have become overly sentimental and corny, but Herring walks the line perfectly and creates an emotional impact that's superb.  When I saw there was another chapter, telling a funny story about a kid, I thought he'd blown the ending but, if anything, he manages to top the preceding chapter.  He captures the essence of what it used to be like to be a child and urges us to recapture a little of that for ourselves.  If you think that sounds like a good idea, then you could start by reading this book.

Movie Review: Welcome to Collinwood

Director: Anthony & Joe Russo

Starring: Sam Rockwell, William H Macy, Jennifer Esposito, George Clooney

UK Release Date: 23 April 2003

Tardy Review Date: 25 February 2011

Format: DVD

This is a film I just didn't bother to watch when it first came out.  It sounded like the kind of thing I'd be interested in and I heard good things about it, but I guess I decided not to see it, or at least never got around to it.   Since then I've seen bits and pieces of it on TV and so I figured it was time to watch the whole thing properly.

It's a comedy but it's not really played for out and out laughs for the most part, having more of an indie feel, with off-beat and darker humour filtered into the downbeat surroundings.  It follows the story of a poorly organised heist, carried out by some hapless and down at heel, third rate criminals.  They're all down on their luck and poor, with no prospects or hope, so when the idea of a big money job comes along, they fall over themselves to be involved.

George Clooney was on all the posters when this came out, as I recall, but he actually plays a pretty small part, with the focus being much more on the ensemble cast.  Rockwell and Macy are predictably good but the whole cast hold together really well and play off each other to make the dialogue and plot flow nicely.

Quirky slang is thrown into the dialogue, so the perfect job is called a Bellini, while a Mullinski is someone who takes the fall for someone else.  That and the way the incompetent, disorganised gang set about the job reminded me a lot of 'Things to do in Denver when you're dead', and I guess this is like a lighter version of that film in a lot of ways.  Whilst the tone of this film may be on the darker side of comedy, it's not in the same pessimistic league as Denver, and the despair a lot of the characters express is balanced with the promise of better things down the line.

Apparently the film was a flop when it was released, which is a real shame as it's an enjoyable caper movie with strong performances all round.  Clooney's influence as a producer is tangible, with his hallmark focus on left of mainstream fair.  Maybe that's why it didn't do so well, but it's also why it works in my opinion.

Movie Review: Hot Tub Time Machine

Director: Steve Pink

Starring: John Cusack, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry

UK Release Date: 7 May 2010

Tardy Review Date: 16 February 2011

Format: Blu Ray

It's not big, it's not clever, but it's funny

This isn't the type of film I'd usually watch and I don't know what made me decide I wanted to see it.  I love comedies, but I usually prefer them to be a bit darker or more intelligent.  This is a film that tells you everything you need to know in the title and the trailer and it makes no pretence about being anything other than a silly, high concept film selling nostalgia and (hopefully) laughs.

I guess it was the obvious calls back to Back To The Future and the eighties nostalgia that tempted me, plus I'm a bit of a John Cusack fan so thought it would be worth a go.  I fully expected to watch a promising opening quickly deteriorate into dumb jokes and naff dialogue, with maybe a smirk or two but no big laughs.  What I got was a properly fun comedy that made me laugh out loud quite a few times and had a good mix of characters that kept the simple plot interesting.

The gist of it is, Cusack, Robinson and Corddry are three guys who were high-school friends in the eighties but have grown apart.  They're thrown back together when Corddry almost kills himself by leaving his car running in the garage whilst he's sat in it, drunk.  The other two are concerned it was a suicide attempt and take him to Kodiak Valley ski resort for the weekend to keep an eye on him and re-live old times, taking Cusack's nephew (Duke) with them.  Then, surprise-surprise, they travel back in time to the 80s whilst they're sat in the hot tub.

The influence from Back To The Future is strong and a the presence of Crispin Glover, who plays a bellhop destined to lose his right arm, keeps that movie in mind.  The film makers don't try to hide from the similarities, though, and elements like Robinson playing a yet-to-be-written song at a dance and Duke trying to ensure he is conceived before he disappears from existence are clear call-backs.

Corddry, as the hapless jerk Lou, is entertaining throughout and is key to keeping the laughs coming, as is the friction between him and Duke.  Both are losers from different eras and they take their inadequacies out on each other.  Cusack is the typical romantic figure who's chased status and success at the cost of his relationships, whilst Davidson is the flip-side as someone who's given up his dream in favour of settling down. In short, they all have regrets and this weekend in the past seems like the opportunity to take a second chance.

Even though many of the jokes, characters and plot are pretty obvious, I found myself enjoying this ridiculous adventure.  Some of the humour is clearly tongue in cheek and there are a few jokes that come out of left-field.  In fact I laughed more than I can remember laughing at a modern comedy for a while.  It might be silly, and it's certainly not a clever comedy, but it's not stupid either.  There are enough self-aware moments and winks at the audience to keep it fresh and even the plot isn't wholly predictable.  It might not be a total classic, or the best film I'll watch this year, but I enjoyed it and I'll happily watch it again when it pops up on TV.