Big Nothing

Stars: David Schwimmer, Simon Pegg, Alice Eve, Natasha McElhone, Jon Polito, Mimi Rogers

Director: Jean-Baptiste Andrea

A black comedy-thriller that struggles throughout to find a consistent tone. For starters, three likeable klutzes get involved in murder and, if you feel uneasy when, towards the end, the entire cast is getting killed off one by one, well that's the idea.

This worked in the original Ladykillers, but it's a difficult trick to pull off, especially when characters' motives remain consistently obscure.

Failed writer Charlie (Schwimmer), sacked from his new job at a call centre, falls in with off-the-wall co-worker Gus (Pegg), who has a scheme to blackmail a local reverend involved in pornography. Hot teenager Josie (Eve) cuts herself in.

They break into the minister's house, but he holds them at bay with a gun. The Rev ends up dead, but turns out not to be the Rev at all, after which the twists mount faster than the corpses.

Brit stars Pegg's and Eve's American accents are fine, and all the performances are OK. But it's always a shade too unpleasant - true black comedy evades this one, despite sturdy efforts all round.

David Quinlan

UK/Canada 2006. UK Distributor: Pathé. Colour by De Luxe.
86 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.

Review date: 27 Nov 2006