Dir: Jonny Campbell

Starring: Ant McPartlin, Declan Donnelly, Bill Pullman, Jimmy Carr

My initial feeling when discovering that 'ant and dec' had a film out was one of despair. I had visions of Spiceworld and the inexplicably depth-lacking adventures of S Club 7 rolled into one. However, what I came to witness was a well-acted, fast-paced and, quite frankly, fun piece of quirky 'British' cinema (using the term 'British' loosely of course).

The plot surrounds the true story of Ray Santilli (Donnelly), a hackney market worker (selling pirate videos no less!) who travelled to America for merchandise but stumbled upon a cameraman possessing grainy 1949 footage of an alien autopsy filmed at the, now infamous, Roswell air base. After enlisting the help of his legal clerk friend Gary Shoefield (McPartlin), borrowing £30,000 from a gangster and bringing the footage home, they discover that the film reel is damaged. In an attempt to salvage the prospect of fame and fortune they decide to film their own version of the autopsy.

After many years as acclaimed television presenters, many people forget that Donnelly and McPartlin became famous as actors in geordie soap Byker Grove. Needless to say, their original profession has held them in good stead for film careers. Donnelly played the role of Santilli with relative ease. He made the role believable and certainly surpassed my expectations in terms of acting ability. McPartlin proved to be typecast as the highly-strung legal clerk friend of Santilli and the geordie accent in no way detracted attention from the character he was playing. Bill Pullman co-starred as a documentary director following the the story of the pair and a cameos from stand-up comedians Jimmy Carr and Omid Djalili were also well received.

The quirky soundtrack was symbolic of British cinema. The britpop music ran parrallel with the fast-pace of the film and really helped the narrative flow.

The plot was the key to the film's success. In a year of screenplays dominated by biopics adn true stories, this film has highlighted, once more, the theory that the best plots are the ones that actually took place. This also leads me to question why this year has been relatively weak in terms of original screenplay.

This film was not, in any case, a masterpiece. It will never be remembered as a great piece of filmmaking. However, the film did serve as a launchpad for some rising stars. This was the movie directorial debut of Jonny Campbell, who before has directed television shows Spooks and Shameless, and he made the transition onto the big screen very smoothly. Also, Donnelly and McPartlin have proved they can act outside of their television personas and whether they remain as a duo or go their seperate ways in future films remains to be seen.

This had all the elements of a British comedy but ultimately was a Warner Bros. film, so what does this say about the state of the British film industry? Do we need to rely on our neighbours across the pond to help fund our films? or have we already long surpassed that point?

All in all, Alien Autopsy is a fun film and, needless to say, Ant and Dec are most certainly ready to rumble in the film world.

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