Review by
Benjamin Poole
Directed by: Kevin Jones
Starring: Keiron Self, Richard Elis, Justin Evans, Lloyd Grayshon
Remember lockdown? Sour dough bread, pub quizzes on zoom, Joe Wicks in the
morning, etc. Hoarding toilet roll... What were we like, eh? I've come to
terms with the period as a sort of half-time on life: a moment to suck on
an orange wedge and reflect on the game played, and the tactics required
in the future. A necessary reset. Looking back though, I wonder how many
of us regret not pushing past the crushing existential dread of it all and
forcing our minds and energy and unwalled time into something creative and
purposeful. You can't accuse Cardiff filmmaker Kevin Jones and
erstwhile actor Keiron Self of resting on their laurels, though. In
a virtue-of-necessity dynamic, during mid-2020 the two put together a
YouTube series of sketches featuring fully formed comic creation Martin
Decker; a semi-tragic middle-aged schlemiel who, coping badly with his
impending divorce, loss of family and job, decides to reinvent himself as
one of those influencers they have these days via a "TV show" filmed in
his bathroom (most interior filming takes place in Jones' own house,
except when further lockdown restrictions meant Self had to produce from
home; a switch which the film characteristically improvises as Decker
staying with his mum..!). Can there be a second act in lower middle-class,
firmly middle-aged provincial life?
Originally, the sketches were narrowcast on the Martin Decker YouTube
channel, and consisted of frothy, fun monologues (the character has
pre-lockdown roots in theatre) of the sort which trade on Self's
likeability as a loveable loser attempting against insurmountable odds to
make it as an internet personality.
The Martin Decker Show is a compendium of these episodes,
with a voiceover and extra scenes to marshal the clips into an overarching
documentary narrative. Primarily in the pompous British sit-tragi-com male
mode (Fawlty, Brent, Partridge) Martin Decker is yet sympathetic and
throughout Self projects a specifically Welsh melancholia (I'm thinking of
the Rob "star of
Barbie" Brydon, Marion and Geoff stuff).
Although Martin is an explicitly male archetype, through this remove the
film nonetheless plays into general insecurities regarding endorsement,
the empty buzz of validation via social media and our artificial efforts
towards self-actualisation. Hence the drab mise-en-scene slapstick
throughout Martin's "shows," where the cramped space of the bathroom
inhibits him, sets fall apart, and even his pet bearded dragon eventually
refuses to perform to camera: true to the genre, the comedy derives from
being trapped within a situation (here quite literally). When we laugh at
Martin it is with a reassuring recognition; perhaps we perceive our own
aspirational absurdity in his foibles.
The sketches have a rate which is more hit than miss: we see Martin try to
learn self-defence in the park with disastrous results and fly a drone
about a beach with similar outcomes. Moreover, Self and Jones lace the
film with genuine poignancy. To wit, while he's trying to film an OB, an
ex-workmate bumps into Martin and with a bully's cruel ease just roasts
our guy right there in the park. It rang true, as, especially within the
desolate habituation of offices, workplaces do form hierarchies where the
most unpleasant and stupid prosper unfairly. I appreciated the final act
implication that this nob, played with requisite smarm by
Francois Pandolfo, is probably more lost than Martin: everyone
seeks to make a mark, and the ones with no courage or creativity attempt
to do so by positioning themselves against others.
I say, why shouldn't Martin, an everyman hero in his rumpled shirt and
askew tie, seek more than his lot? Why shouldn’t any of us? Perhaps,
though, in the words of Nick Berry, every loser does win, as, coming soon
to theatres in the UK is the Martin Decker show in person: with the
character introducing the film at various art centres across the country.
Who's laughing now? Hopefully you, in the gentle thrall of this deeply
human, warm and amusing confection. See you there.
The Martin Decker Show will tour UK
cinemas from September 7th.
