AN AWFULLY BIG ADVENTURE

Rip It Up, Issue 219, 1 November 1995, Page 46

AN AWFULLY BIG ADVENTURE

Director: Mike Newell

It's post-War Liverpool, and a stalwart bunch of repertory troupers have gathered together to put on a six week season that runs the gamut from Caesar and Cleopatra to Peter Pan, under

the directorial guidance of the dandyish Hugh Grant. All this is seen through the eyes of the 16 year old Stella (Georgina Cates). Although she has a brief turn as Ptolemy in the Shaw play and waves Tinkerbell’s torch around in Peter Pan, Stella is mostly on the sidelines, smoothing ruffled feathers and becoming rather too involved with the tough and glamorous PL O’Hara (Alan Rickman). Originally written by veteran Charles Wood as a television project, one can’t help but think the more intimate medium would have suited this material better. It’s very much a film of performances, led by Hugh Grant at his slimiest. Outstanding is Carol Drinkwater, as a dipso member of the company who can’t hack the pace, and Rita Tushingham illuminates the small role of Aunt Lily. Small and cosy though Adventure may seem, it all erupts into a veritable Greek tragedy, dealing with such deep and primal emotions that the tone of the film goes slightly awry. Mike Newell has pulled this dramatic shift off before, with the moving funeral oration in Four Weddings and a Funeral. This time it just doesn’t work. WILLIAM DART