For the uninitiated, the first big screen outing for the all-boy Canadian comedy quintet, whose Pythonesque exploits can be found lurking around Channel 4 in the small hours, may prove to be something of a tedious affair - but those familiar with their brand of stinging satire are in for a treat.
Essentially a series of sketches linked by a gossamer plot, this boasts about the same hit/miss ratio as the telly series, with the odd sketch plummeting into nil-laugh hell, but these are more than counterbalanced by moments of comic genius - specifically "cancer boy" (a wickedly sick parody of the media's morbid fascination with cute terminal kids), a gag worth the entrance price alone, an indicator of the current of black social satire that the five have bolstered their buffoonery with.
The star of the show is Thompson, with creations such as repressed Wally Terzinsky and Mrs. Hurdicure, a matronly aunt sent into a coma by the replaying of her only happy memory undercutting the laughs with genuine warmth.
