IMDb > A Cock and Bull Story (2005)
A Cock and Bull Story
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A Cock and Bull Story (2005) More at IMDbPro »

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A Cock and Bull Story (2005) -- Director Michael Winterbottom (Northam) attempts to shoot the adaptation of Laurence Sterne's essentially unfilmable novel, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman."
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Overview

User Rating:
6.9/10   6,471 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Laurence Sterne (novel)
Frank Cottrell Boyce (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 January 2006 (UK) more
Genre:
Comedy more
Tagline:
Because everyone loves an accurate period piece. more
Plot:
Director Michael Winterbottom (Northam) attempts to shoot the adaptation of Laurence Sterne's essentially unfilmable novel, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
2 wins & 12 nominations more
NewsDesk:
Fall Preview Top 20: 1 of 2
 (From ioncinema. 1 September 2005)

User Comments:
Film version of a possibly unfilmable--some might say unreadable--novel more (113 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Steve Coogan ... Tristram Shandy / Walter Shandy / Steve Coogan

Rob Brydon ... Capt. Toby Shandy / Rob Brydon

Keeley Hawes ... Elizabeth

Shirley Henderson ... Susannah
Raymond Waring ... Trim
Conal Murphy ... Young Tristram Shandy - Age 6
Joe Williams ... Young Tristram Shandy - Age 9

Paul Kynman ... Obadiah
Mark Tandy ... London Doctor

Mary Healey ... Midwife
Dylan Moran ... Dr. Slop
Jack Shepherd ... Surgeon
David Walliams ... Parson

Jeremy Northam ... Mark
Benedict Wong ... Ed
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Tristram Shandy (UK) (working title)
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (USA)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for language and sexual content.
Runtime:
94 min
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital
Company:
BBC Films more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The film features several pieces of music by Nino Rota from the Federico Fellini film (1963), which is also about frustrated efforts to make a movie. more
Quotes:
Steve Coogan: This is a postmodern novel before there was any modernism to be post about. more
Movie Connections:
References Schatten der Engel (1976) more
Soundtrack:
Unknown Waltz more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
68 out of 89 people found the following comment useful.
Film version of a possibly unfilmable--some might say unreadable--novel, 8 October 2005
9/10
Author: Karen Green (klg19) from New York City

Just saw this at the New York Film Festival, where it was met with the wild enthusiasm and raucous laughter it so fully deserves.

I intentionally avoided reading any reviews before I went, as I was so curious to see how Winterbottom (whose "24-Hour Party People" I had loved) would approach this bear of a book.

The film begins with the two stars getting made-up and chatting about the size of their roles and the color of their teeth (the actors, who appeared with Winterbottom in the post-screening Q&A at the festival, assured the audience that this opening scene, as well as their conversation over the end credits, was completely improvised). The scene shifts to Tristram Shandy beginning the narration of his life with an anecdote about Groucho Marx--and proceeds to go wild from there.

The cast is made up of some of the finest actors in British television--apart from the two leads, Dylan Moran of "Black Books" and David Walliams of "Little Britain" appear, as well as Stephen Fry, Shirley Henderson, and a host of others, including a splendid turn by Keeley Hawes in a role that consists of little more than labor pains and screaming--and one American: Gillian Anderson in a couple of wonderful scenes, one as herself and the other as the Widow Wadman.

As one of the actors observes in the film, Laurence Sterne had written "a post-modern novel before modernism had even been invented," and Winterbottom honors that admirably.

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'Fill me with your babies' overratedcritic
One Of The Worst Films Of All Time nathan_812000
a very clever film echo_park37
Rob Brydon vs Steve Coogan flandersnswan
Day for Night jiminy80
Groucho Marx leofishy
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