Fighting Stock: A noisy trip to the countryside

Is this for you?

Look, if you enjoy early British comedy where the humor relies entirely on people walking into doors or getting their wires crossed, you’ll probably have a decent time. If you need your movies to have a point or a plot that makes actual sense, you should probably skip this. It’s not for the impatient, that's for sure.

Tom Walls plays Sir Donald Rowley with so much irritability you can almost feel his blood pressure rising through the screen. He’s the kind of guy who probably yells at clouds for being too loud. Watching him try to enjoy a quiet fishing trip while his neighbor Rivers exists is honestly the best part of the whole thing. The way they bicker feels almost real, like they’d been waiting for an excuse to lose their minds at each other.

Then there’s the nephew, Sidney, played by Ralph Lynn. He shows up and immediately starts making everything worse by falling for the neighbor's stepdaughter. It’s the usual nonsense. He’s constantly getting into scrapes that he definitely should have been able to avoid if he had half a brain. Honestly, half the fun is just waiting to see how he messes up the next scene.

The pacing is a bit all over the place. Sometimes it feels like a stage play where they forgot to put the cameras in the right spots. You can tell it’s based on a farce because characters spend a lot of time just running around in circles. There’s a scene about halfway through involving a hallway that just goes on for way too long. It’s funny for thirty seconds, then it’s just sort of loud.

I couldn't help but think about how much this style of comedy has changed. It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in High Kickers, though with a lot more tweed and much less actual kicking. It’s a very specific brand of 1930s chaos.

Random thoughts:

• The fishing gear in this movie looks like it weighs more than the actors.
• I really wanted Sir Donald to actually catch a fish just once.
• The dialogue is incredibly fast, so keep your ears open or you'll miss the punchlines.
• The sets feel a bit like cardboard, but in a way that’s actually kind of charming.

Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it a fun way to kill an hour if you like old-school slapstick? Yeah, sure. It’s got that slightly dusty, theater-kid energy that feels both dated and weirdly comforting. Just don't expect it to change your life. 🎣