Mad Cows (1999, Anna Friel, Joanna Lumley, Anna Massey) – Classic Movie Review 5536

Every woman wants to be wanted – just not by the Metropolitan police force.

Anna Friel stars as unwed, lippy Aussie Maddy, who gets arrested and jailed after a mix-up over a packet of frozen peas in a supermarket and has to take her baby in jail. Her best friend, the fabulous-looking middle-aged Gillian (Joanna Lumley), smuggles her child out of prison.

Co-writer/ director Sara Sugarman’s laugh-free, carelessly handled 1999 British comedy is rewarded with slack Carry On-style acting from a great ensemble, including Prunella Scales, John Standing, Anna Massey, Rustie Lee, Judy Cornwell, Greg Wise, Sophie Dahl and Phyllida Law, all of them wasted.

The film is a mad squandering of talent, though Friel’s Aussie accent is lamentable and her performance is charmless.

Sugarman writes the screenplay with Sasha Hails, based on the novel by Kathy Lette.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5536

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