Director: Adam Sigal
Writers: Adam Sigal
Stars: Simon Pegg, Minnie Driver, Christopher Lloyd
Synopsis: When famed paranormal psychologist Dr. Nandor Fodor investigates a family’s claim of a talking animal, he uncovers a mysterious web of hidden motives. Soon, everyone becomes a suspect in his relentless pursuit of the truth.
You know that a movie’s script is in trouble when the film’s title is the most eccentric part of the script. Based on a “true” story, Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose is being promoted as a dark comedy, but after watching it, I wonder if they are describing the color of black they chose when printing the script. There’s simply nothing quirky, grim, weird, or even macabre about the picture other than the cruel trick of convincing critics and viewers alike to sit down and watch.
Suppose that’s the case, then well done.
Simon Pegg stars as “famed” Dr. Nandor Fodor, a parapsychologist – he would make an excellent host on the Paranormal Reality Television Network – who investigates the events that go beyond the typical human scientific understanding. Pegg plays Fodor as courteous and kind, yet almost uncomfortable and socially awkward in nearly any human interaction, as you may suspect with any outcast. Due to this, Fodor lacks acceptance inside academic circles in this version.
Dr. Fodor has a colleague, Anna (Minnie Driver), who is his loyal confidant. The good professor has her read his mail with the ability to summarize anything in a few seconds. They come across a letter from the Irving family, who claims a talking mongoose and an adventure in the name of scientific discovery is born. Dr. Fodor and Anne head to Irving’s farm at Cashen’s Gap near Dalby on the Isle of Man to investigate.
While this town would have benefited from the other invention of the television set, the main subject of Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose is not uncommon in history. The phenomenon of speaking animals has been reported all the way back to ancient Egypt and ancient Greek fables. Writer and director Adam Sigal has taken a “true” story and wrote an original script as an homage to the events that occurred.
However, Sigal’s script focuses on how the event affects the main characters, revealing what can be described as a stretch, “haunting” back stories like the last words Fodor’s father said to him. Yet, this is a single occurrence and unravels the professor. This would have been far more effective if this was a pattern to delve deeper into Fodor’s backstory, but that’s left unexplored. The same goes for Driver’s Anne, who does not explain why she’s a believer, which would have led to a sense of wonderment the film lacks.
Sigal’s is too straightforward for such an entertaining premise and only offers surface-level insight into character actions and behaviors. From the moment Fodor and Anne step into the tiny British Hamlet, the plot is obvious, and there’s no beard to keep the viewer guessing.
This is a cynical view, which I admire, especially when the script has the paternal Irving practically push Fodor into a cave to discover by “chance” missing items around town or the fact their daughter is the most gifted ventriloquist since Darci Lynne, which is odd. And if you still haven’t put it together since you never get to see the mongoose in the first place, I admire your patience.
I will take one thing back, though, since Anne claims the family is respected around town and is wealthy, so why would they make it up? Well, fame is addictive, and for that matter, can you ever have enough money? The premise is that the talking small terrestrial carnivore that may be real doesn’t offer enough weight to hang your hopes or interests when immersed in the experience.
If anything, the role is tailored by Pegg, who does what he can to make the role, at the very least. Driver is in the unforgiving role of a woman supporting the titular subject but isn’t afraid to speak her mind; a little bit of that dame character who’s a spitfire from the era. Finally, special attention should be paid to Jessica Balmer’s Voirrey, who is by far the most interesting character the film has to offer.
Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose cannot figure out what type of movie it wants to be. Instead of focusing on making a movie with a bold and daring point of view, the focus is far too safe, and the result is a rather humdrum cinematic experience on multiple levels.
