Clockwise is a British comedy movie that has slowly gained cult status, partly because of its star John Cleese but also because it shows a part of a British education system that in most cases no longer exists.
Cleese plays a school headmaster with an obsessesion for punctuality. His best laid plans to attend a headmasters’ conference go wrong when he boards the wrong train. He turns back to find alternative means of transport, hijacking one of his pupils who is taking the afternoon off school in her father’s car. As the journey descends into further chaos, the head begins to lose his cool and schoolmasterly poise.
Part of the charm of the film is it is really a series of comedy sketches as things slowly go out of the headmasters control. Certain aspects of the story, like a teacher (Mr Jolly played by the great supporting actor Stephen Moore, who sadly passed away recently) who is having an affair with one of his students seems a little awkward watching it today, but the manic pace of the comedy makes up for any dated aspects of the screenplay and direction. John Cleese would go on to make a superior and much successful comedy A Fish Called Wanda a few years later, but this is still worth a watch and will have you amused for most of its running time.
This new Blu ray from Studio Canal is from a new 4K remaster and as expected is far superior to previous DVD releases. Filmic grain is present and overall this is a very good remaster. Audio gives you the original uncompressed mono which sounds fine and extras include an interview with the director Michael Frayn and a vintage interview with John Cleese called Clock Watching.
A good comedy classic and fans will be very pleased with the upgrade.
FILM – 7.5 PICTURE – 8.5 AUDIO – 7 EXTRAS – 3
