The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain

25 February 2019

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain 1995

• Directors: Christopher Monger
• Based on the novel by Ifor David Monger
• Cast: Hugh Grant, Tara Fitzgerald, Colm Meaney, Ian McNeice, Ian Hart, Kevin Griffith, Robert Pugh, Lisa Palfrey
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Hugh Grant – Cloud Atlas, Music and Lyrics, American Dreamz, Love Actually, About a Boy, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Notting Hill, Sense and Sensibility, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Remains of the Day, Impromptu,
• Tara Fitzgerald – Rose and Maloney, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Brassed Off
• Colm Meaney – Parked, The Van, The Last Mohican, The Commitments
• Ian McNeice – Doctor Who, Valkyria, From Hell, A Life Less Ordinary
• Ian Hart – Tristram Shandy, Finding Neverland, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Born Romantic, Liam, Longitude, The Butcher Boy, Michael Collins, Land and Freedom
• Kevin Griffith – Very Annie Mary, Four Weddings and a Funeral
• Robert Pugh – The Hollow Crown, Doctor Who, Robin Hood, The Ghost Writer, Kinky Boots, Hustle
• Lisa Palfrey – Pride
• Why? Because when we were in Wales last summer, we rode past this mountain
• Seen:  24 February 2019      

       In 1917 it is important to measure the mountains in Wales for the war effort, but they must be over a thousand feet high to qualify as mountains. According to two English surveyors, Anson (Grant) and Garrod (McNeice), who show up in the village at the foot of the mountain Ffynnon Garw.

       The Welsh are not impressed by the Englishmen but they’re willing enough to have a map made of their mountain. It’s just that it’s not quite a thousand feet high. The villages are deeply indignant. Of course, it’s a mountain!

       How can they survive the loss of their mountain after they’ve lost so many men to the war and the mines?

       The local publican Morgan (Meaney) proposes that they add twenty feet.

       It may be a true story (sort of) but it makes a very thin film. Fitzgerald is wasted as the flirty romantic house/barmaid, the acting is hammy, and I don’t like any of the characters. It’s no where near the standards of the many excellent British romantic comedies, but it’s entertaining in its way. And it’s lovely to see Wales again.

      

2 ½ * of 5 (Hal liked it and gave it 5*)