The Harry Hill Movie

The Harry Hill Movie is a 2013 British musical comedy film, directed by Steve Bendelack and starring Harry Hill. It was written by Hill along with Jon Foster and James Lamont. It revolves around a fictional version of Harry Hill's adventures with his grandmother and misdiagnosed hamster. The film was released on 20 December 2013 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It received generally negative reviews from critics.

The Harry Hill Movie
United Kingdom theatrical release poster
Directed by	Steve Bendelack
Screenplay by	Harry Hill Jon Foster James Lamont
Story by	Harry Hill
Produced by	Robert Jones
Starring	Harry Hill Julie Walters Matt Lucas Simon Bird Sheridan Smith Johnny Vegas Jim Broadbent
Cinematography	Baz Irvine
Edited by	Michael Parker
Music by	Steve Brown
Production companies	Lucky Features Jonescompany Productions
Distributed by	Entertainment Film Distributors
Release date	20 December 2013 (2013-12-20)
Running time	88 minutes[1]
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£2 million[2]
Box office	£4.1 million[3]

Plot

The film begins with a scooter chase between Harry Hill and his grandmother simply referred to as Nan; she did not know it was him. Afterwards, Harry is sent to get a chicken for lunch, but the chickens fire a machine gun at him and throw a grenade, which Harry throws back into the chicken shed, blowing them up. Nan tells Harry the story of his twin brother Otto, who was abandoned by Nan in the 1970s, claiming it was because she could not look after them both, and was raised by Alsatians, though Harry explains to Nan that she has told this story many times before.

Suddenly, Harry and Nan then discover that their beloved pet hamster Abu is ill, so they take him to the vet. Ed the vet and his assistant, Kisko claim that Abu has just a week to live and he is almost put down until Harry takes him back home. Ed and Kisko are then revealed to be working for Otto, who wants Abu for himself.

Ed and Kisko then disguise themselves as a priest and a nun respectively in another attempt to capture Abu, but it goes wrong when Harry walks in on the two trying to kill Abu and thinks they are having gay sex. With the two gone, Abu reveals that he would like to spend his last week alive visiting Rihanna. Harry, who cannot communicate with hamsters, misinterprets as him wanting to go to Blackpool, and so Harry, Nan and Abu set off in their Rover P6.

Ed and Kisko pursue the group on the road driving a giant mobile traffic cone, though they end up in "Blackpole" by mistake, so they stay for the night in a B&B owned by The Magic Numbers. The next day, Harry and Nan take Abu on a personal guided tour around a nuclear power plant by Bill the cleaner in drag. Ed and Kisko attempt to capture Abu again, this time by disguising themselves as cleaners, only for the radiation to temporarily transform him into a kaiju-esque giant monster.

Later, Harry, Nan and Abu encounter Barney Cull, a member of the Shell People, who asks Harry and the others to save his people's children from a gift shop. The heist is a success and they are invited back to the Shell People's cave where Harry falls for the Shell King Conch's daughter, Michelle, but leaves after being unable to cope living under water.

The three continue their road trip only to end up in a boxing match, set up by Ed disguised as a ringmaster-like referee, where Harry has to fight Kisko to keep Abu, and successfully wins with a free stick of rock. Later on, the car runs out of petrol in the middle of the woods and Harry and Nan leave Abu behind while they search for a petrol station, and was almost kidnapped again by Ed and Kisko only to leave the car in pieces.

Meanwhile, Otto teams them up with a master of disguise fox Renard Depardieu. Harry, Nan and Abu hitch a ride in a limo with Ed and Kisko disguised as Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, and they arrive in Blackpool to see a show featuring The Dachsund Five, a tribute band to the Jackson 5. Harry is reunited with Michelle, much to Nan's dismay, and Abu is finally kidnapped and replaced with Renard in a hamster hoodie.

While Harry and Nan look for Abu, they follow a trail of BBQ beef Hula Hoops to Otto's hideout, where Otto reveals his plan to turn Abu into a model figurine for his collection as an act of revenge for being deserted. During a fight between the two, Nan reveals that she got rid of Otto because she kept getting him and Harry mixed up. After being chased away by killer brains, Harry and Nan are saved by the Shell People, including Barney who shoots one of the brains with a bazooka, to which Nan accepts his and Michelle's love. Harry pursues Otto to the top of the Blackpool Tower. Nan rescues him and Abu in a helicopter, Otto is defeated, and Ed and Kisko reform.

Harry catches Abu sucking a green felt tip pen which turns out to be the cause of his illness, meaning that he was not dying after all. Ed explains that hamsters like sucking on felt tips, and he gave it to Abu so he would be sick and start this whole plan, even though Harry points out that he could have just kidnapped Abu then. Everyone celebrates in the Shell People's cave by singing "You Got the Love".

Cast

• Harry Hill as a fictional version of himself
• Julie Walters as Nan, Harry and Otto's grandmother
• Matt Lucas as Otto Hill, Harry's evil twin brother who got separated from Harry when they were younger and was raised by Alsatians
• Simon Bird as Ed, a veterinarian and one of Otto's former henchmen
• Sheridan Smith as Michelle, the daughter of the shell king
• Johnny Vegas as the voice of Abu, Harry's pet hamster
  • Richard Coombs as the puppetry for Abu
• Julian Barratt as Conch, the king of the shell people
• Marc Wootton as Barney Cull, a member of the shell people
• Jim Broadbent as Bill, a cleaner in drag
• Guillaume Delaunay as Kisko, another one of Otto's former henchmen
• The Magic Numbers as themselves
• Christine Ozanne as Mrs. Pickford, Harry and Nan's neighbour who has a brick for a replacement pet due to the death of her dog
• Shingai Shoniwa as a singing Car Wash Attendant
• Sean Foley as Renard Depardieu, a French-accented fox who is a master of disguise

Production

In February 2012, before the end of Harry Hill's TV Burp, Digital Spy reported Hill was to sign a £2 million movie deal with Channel 4, which would later become The Harry Hill Movie.^[2]

Filming

Set in Blackpool and London, the Blackpool scenes in the film were shot in the town itself. Greatstone-on-Sea, Kent doubled as "Blackpole".^[4][5] The fuel station scene was shot at Millbrook Proving Ground, Milton Keynes.

In real life, Blackpole is an inland suburb of Worcester, which, like the fictional town in the movie, is frequently confused for Blackpool by satellite navigation users.^{[citation needed]}

Music

• "Popcorn" – Performed by Steve Brown
• "Days" – Performed by Harry Hill
• "Blackpool!" – Performed by Harry Hill and Julie Walters
• "Nutbush City Limits" – Performed by Matt Lucas
• "London's Burning" – Written by Harry Hill
• "B & B Song" – Performed by The Magic Numbers
• "Drive Through My Carwash" – Performed by Shingai Shoniwa and Harry Hill
• "Down in the Deep Blue Sea" – Performed by Sheridan Smith
• "ABC" – Performed by The Dachsund Five
• "I Want You Back" – Performed by The Dachsund Five
• "Celebration" – Performed by Kool & the Gang
• "Fight!" (Theme from 'Flashing Blade') – Performed by The Musketeers
• "And the Rain Falls in My Heart" – Performed by the cast
• "Frere Jacques" – Performed by Harry Hill
• "Plastination" – Performed by Steve Brown and The Plastinettes
• "You Got The Love" – Performed by The Cast
• "Get Down" – Performed by Gilbert O'Sullivan

Release and reception

The film was theatrically released on 20 December 2013 by Entertainment Film Distributors, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 14 April 2014 by Entertainment Film Distributors.^[6] When the film was released in the United Kingdom, it opened on #7.^[7]

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 33% of 6 critics' reviews are positive.^[8]

Ryan Gilbey of The Guardian gave it 2 out of 5 and wrote "What's missing is any persuasive comic force or vision to justify the film's place in cinemas rather than in petrol station bargain bins".^[9]

The Independent were also critical saying its screenplay wasn't "so much offbeat as utterly feeble" and "it is very hard to keep patience with a story which hinges on the health of a toy hamster".^[10] However Graham Young for the Birmingham Mail, on a more positive note said, "Uniquely British and deliriously silly, Harry Hill offers up the laughs".^[11]

Tom Huddleston from Time Out gave it three stars, saying "this has bigger laughs" and "the set-piece gags are memorable"; however, he added "There's not enough here to sustain 88 minutes, too many of the jokes fall flat... There will be those who find The Harry Hill Movie about as amusing as a trip to the dentist. They're wrong."^[12]