Faintheart is a 2008 British comedy film, directed by Vito Rocco and starring Eddie Marsan, Ewen Bremner and Jessica Hynes. It concerns a lead character involved in the historical reenactment of medieval battles; and is the first film to be created using active input from an online site.
The film was a result of collaborative effort from Myspace, Vertigo films and Film4. The resulting group, MyMovieMashUp, sought to harness the talents of the online community and to enable them to be involved in the film-making process. Various cast and crew members were picked from the MySpaceUK website to work on the project, a unique tactic in the film-making industry. Although the casting and soundtrack were assembled with the help of Myspace, the screenplay was written by UK-based writer David Lemon.
Professional Viking re-enactors from UK-based company "The Vikings" formed part of the cast alongside Britannia Romano-British society. A specialist stunt team from East 15 Acting School took part in filming the large battles under the fight direction of Richard Ryan.
Plot
Richard is separated from his wife and son because she is tired of playing second fiddle to his medieval war re-enactments: The Broad Swords. He is trying desperately to win her back by recreating the atmosphere in which their relationship began, but she has moved on, and is dating the school gym teacher.
His son is equally geeky but blames his father for this, as it results in his being bullied at school.
Meanwhile, his gaming friend Julian, who owns a comic book store, is having his own romantic problems, but finds Maggie, a woman with an equal love of Star Trek: The Next Generation which sets him on the right track.
Richard has a lowly job in a DIY store and his manager has little sympathy either with his hobby or home problems.
After a heart to heart discussion with his "Viking" colleagues he has a change of heart. He cuts off his long hair. He apologises at the grave of his father-in-law where he meets his mother-in-law. But when his son's young girlfriend expresses an interest in watching the re-enactment he returns to his love, rescuing his swords from the dump.
His wife realises the gym teacher looks good but is ugly inside.
Richard joins in a huge public display battle between Vikings and Normans. The fight is side-lined by the gym teacher appearing, resulting in a duel between him and Richard. When the son intervenes his wife takes a bow and arrow and forces the teacher to retreat to the cheer of the crowds.
Cast
Eddie Marsan as Richard
Ewen Bremner as Julian
Jessica Hynes as Cath, Richard's wife
Bronagh Gallagher as Maggie
Tim Healy as Geoff
Paul Nicholls as Gary
Jodie Packwood as mischievous schoolgirl
Anne Reid as Barbara Wallace, Richard's mother-in-law
Joseph Hamilton as Martin
Chloe Hesar as Emily
Richard Ridings as Collin
Gary Sefton as Vince
Kevin Eldon as Alan
Sandra Voe as Julian's Mum
Matthew Leighton as Kim
Tom Smith as Danny
Phil Lester as Tim
Oscar McDevitt as Pete
Rasmus Hardiker as Comic Book Fan 1
Edward Tudor-Pole as Lollipop Man / Death Metal Singer
Tim Potter as Headmaster
Aliese Kellner-Joyce as Office Worker
Colin Webb as Policeman
George Hill as Boy With Owl
Chris R. Wright as Simon
Calum Chalmers as Kevin
Steve Ryland as Comic Book Fan 2
Nick Ball as Graham
Jason Excell as Death Metal Band Bassist
Graeme Brookes as Pub Landlord
Joseph Ripley as Photographer
Rosalyn Scanlon as Office Worker
Critical reception
The Guardian gave the film two out of five stars, writing, "this is not a bad movie, exactly, but it aims curiously low, and is faintly pointless; and while the actors cope well with the material, they are finally just cardboard characters in a balsa-wood plot." Sky Movies gave the film four out of five stars, saying, "it's a totally unexpected hoot...Director Vito Rocco and credited writer David Lemon have done a terrific job in creating one of the most consistently funny and winning Brit-coms of recent years." The IGN review by Chris Tilly was positive.
References
Further reading
https://web.archive.org/web/20080924225914/http://www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk/films/2008/faintheart/reviews/ (Reviews, Cambridge Film Festival)