Jonno Davies stars as Cal Harley in this British comedy about a once successful pop star who returns to his Somerset village to find his Dad’s pub on the verge of bankruptcy. When he finds his Grandad’s brewing book and equipment he decides to come up with a beer that will save the day. He also discovers that his ex-girlfriend, and love of his life, Abi (Gabriella Wade) is in a relationship with Pritchard (Luke Treadaway) the hostile owner of a large and successful brewery.
There has been a rich history of British comedies about the little guys standing up to the powerful, stretching back to the Ealing comedies of the 1940’s and 50’s, such as Passport to Pimlico. In more recent times, The Full Monty kickstarted a new wave of similarly plotted comedies, including the two Fisherman’s Friends films that Nick Moorcroft, the director and co-writer here, also directed.
So, when Cal, his brother Jake (James Buckley) and father Mick (Martin Clunes) enter their beer in The Campaign for Real Ale’s annual awards, you know what is going to happen. It is a mostly agreeable journey to that destination and Clunes manages to bring some emotional depth to his role. However, a lot of the jokes are very old and it has an air of inauthenticity, despite CAMRA’s heavy involvement, including brief filming at The Great British Beer Festival. Major crises are resolved too easily and most of the cast sound like they have never been to the west country!
Miles Jupp as a CAMRA judge gets a few chucklesome lines and Mark Addy gamely tries his best in what is more amiable than funny film.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10