Review: Walk Like A Panther

Walk Like A Panther
Cert: 12A / 108 mins / Dir. Dan Cadan / Trailer



And so, the second of Saturday's schoolings in cinematic prejudice arrived directly after the first, in the shape of writer/director Dan Cadan's Walk Like A Panther. The feelgood tale of a village in Yorkshire which is home to a troupe of retired show-wrestlers, who decide to regroup to raise funds to save their beloved pub from closure*¹, it does exactly (exactly) what it says on the tin.

I won't lie, this was another schedule-booster. I wasn't looking forward to it. The trailer makes it look dreadful. But utilising an ensemble-cast of British character actors, Cadan manages to craft a tale which is as gleefully entertaining as it is reassuringly conventional. Walk Like A Panther may look like The Full Monty in leotards*², but it's closer in spirit to The Last Of The Summer Wine if that was rebooted by Guy Ritchie.

The film requires the audience to be forgiving of its worst excesses before they even sit down, telegraphed not just through the trailer but also the first act itself. And with two music-set training montages and dramatic hurdles arriving like clockwork, if this was any more mechanical it would be a Pacific Rim cosplay party. But the characters develop on-cue and it's got genuine humour and undeniable heart, saved by a cast who go all-in.

Front and centre are Dave Johns and Stephen Graham as the father/son cornerstone of a story about changing times, nostalgia and legacy. Concentrating more on its character-turns than plot, the 'save the pub' structure almost takes a back seat at several points, but the lurking presence of Stephen Tomkinson's resident corporate-bogeyman pulls the story back on-track when it's needed. Tomkinson goes Full Panto™ and manages to chew his way through the scenery, the actor's thespic gnashers posing a bigger threat to the sets than the third-act bulldozers. It's also maybe worth noting that Johns has his apparently usual struggle of maintaining his own Geordie accent in the unnamed Yorkshire village in which the action takes place, although I love that there's not a mention of how his screen-son Graham's accent is his own ingrained Scouse twang.

But for a film I had huge reservations about watching, I'm pleased to say I found it inordinately entertaining. Bear in mind that even though I lived through its 1970s televisual heydey, I care as much about wrestling as I do about football. After months of cold gloom and trudging to the cinema through snow at the beginning of March, Walk Like A Panther could well be the spring breeze which melted my winter coat of cynicism*³. Considering its conception and execution, this movie is far better than it has any plausible right to be*⁴.

Sometimes as the credits roll, a film leaves you with nothing but the memory of having broadly smiled for two hours. But sometimes, that's more than enough...

The Full Monty, Brassed Off, Up 'n' Under.
Yes, those ones from two decades ago.



I'd say yes, everyone else apparently disagrees.



Occasional repeat-watching as a rainy-dad DVD means you should be able to wait until this is about £4 before picking it up on DVD.



I loved it but I wouldn't go that far.



Given the apparent general consensus, we just might.



There isn't.



Level 2: A sizeable percentage of the cast here appeared in Snatch alongside Benicio 'DJ' del Toro.





*¹ IE, get the band back together to save the orphanage, put on a show to save the theatre, you know the drill. ^{[ BACK ]}

*² And to be fair, it absolutely is. ^{[ BACK ]}

*³ I mean we'll see, obviously. At the time of writing I've still got Tomb Raider, A Wrinkle In Time and Ready Player One to go, yet... ^{[ BACK ]}

*⁴ Although one patron in their late-40s /early-50s walked out after 25 minutes. That's basically the target audience. ^{[ BACK ]}


DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.