Verdict
Summary
A farcical black comedy with a few close-to-hilarious zingers, The Odd Job from director Peter Medak is a hoot if you enjoy madcap dark comedies. Its bleak(ish) themes are offset by a clearly comedic tone, which (mostly) works if you’re in the right frame of mind to watch it. It’s no classic, but the film deserves to be found and given a chance, as it’s been sort of shuffled around and lost in time. Thanks to Severin, the film can be enjoyed in its Blu-ray premier, sourced from director Medak’s personal print of the film, and the 2K transfer is a more than adequate way to experience the film for the first or second (or whatever) time. Severin has included a wealth of bonus features to explore after the film, and for most, I gather, this will be appreciated if you dig the film.
Plot:
A cuckolded man fails at suicide and so he hires a hitman to kill him … but then changes his mind!
Review:
Working class Arthur Harris (Graham Chapman of Monty Python) seemingly has it all: A solid career, good looks, a sense of humor, a nice apartment, and a wife (Diana Quick) … who hates him. He comes home early on their wedding anniversary and is stunned senseless when he realizes that she’s already packed her bags and declares that she can’t stand him (news to him) and is leaving him for another man. Completely blindsided by this bit of business, Arthur very (very!) quickly spirals into a funky depression and tries to commit suicide, which he can’t seem to accomplish on his own. By happenstance, the apartment’s eccentric handyman (Sir David Jason) drops by while he’s in the middle of one of his complicated end-of-life experiments, and Arthur becomes inspired to hire this weird character to “pull the trigger,” as it were, so that he doesn’t have to. The handyman accepts Arthur’s offer, but it comes with the uncertainty of not knowing when, where, or how the deed will be executed! Over the next few days, the intrepid handyman tries and fails (repeatedly!) on carrying out his task, but quite an alarming amount of collateral damage racks up … including the unfortunate demise of a policeman on duty. The police soon begin to realize that Arthur is being hunted, but he won’t reveal the fact that he’s essentially at fault! When he reconnects with his wife, Arthur has a newfound appreciation for life, but by then his contract with the hitman will have reached its boiling point, because the handyman / hitman simply won’t give up!
A farcical black comedy with a few close-to-hilarious zingers, The Odd Job from director Peter Medak is a hoot if you enjoy madcap dark comedies. Its bleak(ish) themes are offset by a clearly comedic tone, which (mostly) works if you’re in the right frame of mind to watch it. It’s no classic, but the film deserves to be found and given a chance, as it’s been sort of shuffled around and lost in time.
Thanks to Severin, the film can be enjoyed in its Blu-ray premier, sourced from director Medak’s personal print of the film, and the 2K transfer is a more than adequate way to experience the film for the first or second (or whatever) time. Severin has included a wealth of bonus features to explore after the film, and for most, I gather, this will be appreciated if you dig the film.
Bonus Materials
- Introduction By Director Peter Medak
- Audio Interview With Peter Medak
- The Odd Job Men – Zoom Reunion Between Star Sir David Jason And Peter Medak
- The Unusual Work – Interview With Writer Bernard McKenna
- Producer, An Odd Job – Interview With Co-Producer Mark Forstater
- The Odd Batch – Interview With Actor Richard O’Brien
- The Naughty Neighbor – Interview With Actress Carolyn Seymour
- Most Peculiar Craft – Interview With Actor Simon Williams
