MovieChat Forums > Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This (2014) Discussion > I thought this was alright actually

I thought this was alright actually

posted 10 years ago by Skyrider01
5 replies | jump to latest

I was looking on the imdb page of this tv movie that i saw last week, and the first reviewer just talked about how bad this was, which i found myself disagreeing with.

First off i did think David Threlfall did a fine job in playing Tommy Cooper, he looked like him fairly decently and immitated his voice alright. I could tell a considerable amount of research did go into making this, the tell tale signs are certainly there. i mean knowing things like that once upon a time Tommy Cooper actually did ask the queen once "can i have your tickets to the cup final?" and that one day he turned up to a meeting once late, wearing his pajama's, is not something you would know inless you had seen a fair few documentries on him, or from speaking to other comedians who have worked with Tom.

There are a few things tho that i dont think they got right. Inless im mistaken, didnt Toms son die before he did?. Yet in this tv movie, he is there at the theatre when Tom actually passes away. Also they should of had Jimmy Tarbuck be Toms stage hand during the "Live from Her Majestys" where of course he died on stage, because in a documentry Jimmy Tarbuck did say that he was the one that was meant to pass the props through the curtain during the Mystical Robe sketch, which of course he didnt get the chance to do. Im glad they had someone playing Eric Morecambe in it tho......oh.....if only Tommy Cooper and Eric Morecambe ever did a sketch together.....that would of been the irresistable force meeting the immoveable object lol.

[–] PurpleProseOfCairo 10 years ago

I agree, I think that reviewer is a fan who obviously thought Tommy could do no wrong. Yes, it was ham-fisted at times but sometimes these bios have to be to shoehorn all the details in. I found it very enjoyable, and (like Tommy) it didn't pull any punches. Mary, the mistress, I thought was played extremely well, and Threlfall was just great.

I have always had my doubts about Tarbuck supposedly handing the props to TC. It sounds like one of those showbiz anecdotes that people like Tarby are so fond of. Why would the host, a megastar (yes kids) like Tarbuck act as a stagehand? And I'm sure there are union rules about that sort of thing (or there would have been in the Eighties). It's just something that nags at me.

Awight we're The Daamned we're a punk baand and this is called Carn't Be Appy T'day!

[–] PurpleProseOfCairo 10 years ago

His son, Tom Henty, died four years after Tommy - he was backstage the night his dad died.

Awight we're The Daamned we're a punk baand and this is called Carn't Be Appy T'day!

[–] Prismark10 10 years ago

I thought filming the bit of him dying on stage, live on tv was unnecessary. Of course thats how he died but do we really need to see it?

Its that man again!!

[–] jamiepickering 10 years ago

It was a honest and frank portrayal of his life; it wasn't pretty. I think that scene was important..

[–] raezor 9 years ago

A lot of the truths about Tommy Cooper probably came from the 1986 Mary Fieldhouse book "For the Love of Tommy".

I really enjoyed watching this film and although Amanda Redman had a small part, a really love watching her act. David Threlfall is however one of the greatest British Actors of his generation (I'm a bit bias as I went to Manchester Youth Theatre with him for 2 years). Anything he does is brilliant, precise and executed to perfection (he was incredible even at Manchester YT). I would have liked a bit more of Tommy with Eric Sykes, but still was very pleased with the result. It will always be a specialists film, but anyone wishing a bit of inside Tommy Coopers private life won't be disappointed.