Guesthouse Paradiso Review

Mayall and Edmondson are Richie Twat (pronounced Thwaite) and Eddie Elizabeth Ndingombaba (unpronouncable), owners of the Guest House Paradiso, a damp-ridden hellhole on the edge of a cliff and adjacent to a nuclear power station. Business is slow, but that all changes when world famous movie star Gina Carbonara (Mahieu) arrives to seek refuge from her hotheaded boyfriend.

by Ben Falk |
Published on
Release Date:

03 Dec 1999

Running Time:

86 minutes

Certificate:

15

Original Title:

Guesthouse Paradiso

Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson's film careers have been neither prolific nor particularly successful and, as everyone knows they do their best stuff when they work together, they have sensibly chosen one of their most popular television creations, the fabulous Bottom, to go all cinematic.

But the plot, as with the TV show, is irrelevant. This is Mayall's and Edmondson's domain, as they skip from their trademark brand of extreme violence to, well, more of it. Of course, it does rather depend on whether you are a fan of the two leads and their particular style, which while often mirthsome, is undoubtably puerile and sometimes tasteless. There are some smart cameos, especially Pegg as a weedy guest, but when the puke inspired denouement does finally arrive, it feels over-baked and stretched out. Much like the rest of the movie.

The boys toil incredibly hard to make the whole thing work and, while there are some hilarious moments, it is far too patchy for a full feature film.

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