Starring: Maxine Peake, Paddy Considine, Tony Pitts, Lindsey Coulson, Alun Armstrong, and Stephen Graham
Distributor: Rialto Distribution
Runtime: 102 mins. Reviewed in Jul 2018
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This British comedy-drama is the story of the rise to stardom of a fictional British comedienne from the 1970s through to the 1980s. Funny Cow is an unidentified woman from Rotherham, UK. The movie is most likely based loosely on the life of Marti Caine, who worked the clubs in Sheffield to become one of Britain’s best loved female comics.
In this film, “Funny Cow” (Maxine Peake) tries to make a name for herself as a stand-up comedienne in men’s clubs and pubs on the comedy circuit of Northern England. Like Marti Caine, she used raw material from her personal life to bring a distinctive style of comedy to her act. Funny Cow worked as a stand-up comedienne in a male world, and she made the decision to go on stage after being inspired by Lenny (Alun Armstrong), a failed comedian, who told her that performing on stage was “not a job for a woman”. She was determined not to take that advice.
In her routines, Funny Cow uses her turbulent childhood and adult relationships to give a harsh and bitter edge to her comedy, and she delivers comedy combined with tragedy in her performances. She insults her hecklers, and tells squirm-worthy jokes. The name she gives herself is intentionally belittling to the person she is, but provocatively reflects the fact she was physically abused by her father (Stephen Graham) and her husband, Bob (Tony Pitts), and she had a depressed mother (Lindsey Coulson), who isolated her through alcoholism.
Funny Cow fled her family environment to move in with Bob, who subjected her to frequent physical abuse and violent rages. She had an affair with a local bookshop owner (Paddy Considine), who wanted to show her a better life, and she integrated experiences with her father, husband, lovers, and mother into her stage performances. Funny Cow’s acts on stage projected a woman wanting to rise above the abuse and lack of love that characterised her real life. In her words, she tells viewers that life can be “too much and not enough, all at the same time”.
The camerawork makes frequent use of flashbacks, and the film effectively captures Funny Cow’s sadness and inner turmoil. Personal reflections, delivered introspectively, characterised nearly all her jokes. They made her audience laugh, but they also challenged those she was entertaining.
This is a sad movie, but also an especially moving and compelling one. An amazingly intense performance by Maxine Peake in the title role lies at its core. The nature of her comedy veers us constantly towards uncomfortable truths which she uses to arouse personal memories about life, which are dramatically voiced on stage. Her performances are about “surviving” as much as they are about “being funny”, and Funny Cow has no qualms about taking on people in her audience.
This is a dramatic and an unusual film about humour. Funny Cow’s routines are often excruciating to watch, and her comedy aims to beat men at their own game, by joining them. She tells racist and homophobic jokes that relate to her background in ways that demonstrate her ways of coping with the poverty, discrimination, and abuse that she personally experienced.
This is a story about a comedienne who battles her way to the top in sexist surrounds, and it mixes comedy with harsh reality. The glue that holds the mix together is the extraordinary performance by Maxine Peak, and the glue she provides is reinforced by excellent cinematography, sharp scripting, quality acting and direction, and an evocative musical score.
This is a film not to be missed. It doesn’t give Funny Cow a name, even in the credits, which describe the film as fictional – but the real-life name of Marti Caine keeps coming to mind. The life of Marti Caine and that of Funny Cow – both of whom were abused, worked the comedy circuit, and extracted laughter by sharing their misfortunes – tells of tough lives spent in hard times.
Peter W. Sheehan is Associate of the Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting
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