Black Pond arrives at the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square for a short run later this month. It's a film that will forever be inextricably be saddled with the label Chris Langham Comeback Movie, but whatever your view of Langham's 2005 fall from grace, this really ought to be cheered as a welcome return from one of our finest comic actors, rather than a post-mortem of a stalled career.
Langham is directed by two first-timers whose combined age is younger than he: Will Sharpe and Tom Kingsley, who scraped together £25k to shoot the film in a fortnight, using Sharpe's parents' house. But for a micro-budget film, it doesn't show - the trailer looks sumptuous, professional and mature, and at least one critic has noted budget appears "at least ten, if not a hundred times larger".
Perhaps appropriately for its star, Black Pond is a black-as-the-night comedy about a family who are accused of murder when a stranger dies at their dinner table, and are quickly demonised by the media. Also starring is former Never Mind The Buzzcocks host Simon Amstell, and director Sharpe himself (also an actor, who previously appeared in Casualty). And it's received good notices from mainstream press too: the Guardian called it a "total delight".
Black Pond is at the PCC for seven nights only, before touring UK cities - an innovative tactic for a film with no big distribution deal behind it. With the first night sold out, we recommend you catch this potential cult classic on the big screen while you have the chance.
Black Pond plays at the Prince Charles Cinema from 11th to 17th November before touring nationwide; check website for more details and booking.
