LEON THE PIG FARMER
A film review by Phil Herring
Copyright 1994 Phil Herring
Written by Gary Sinyor and Vadim Jean Directed by Vadim Jean and Gary Sinyor Actors: Mark Frankel, Janet Suzman, Brian Glover, David de Keyser, Maryam d'Abo, Gina Bellman, Connie Booth
Aren't Jews are inclined to feel guilt, feel sick at the sight of non-kosher food, and know what every other Jew in the world is up to? Stereotypes can be damaging, but they do seem to form the basis for a lot of humour and comic characterisation.
And the stereotype is the premise of this film. Leon is Jewish, born into an upper-middle-class family in Golder's Green, London, son of a curtain salesman, but alas, too scrupulous to remain in his job as a real estate agent. He quits at a bad time--under pressure from his family to procreate, and more than a little neurotic about women, he finds himself in a minor crisis when he discovers by accident that he is the product artificial insemination, and his real father is--he comes the big joke!--a Yorkshire pig farmer. So, in a search for his real roots (whatever they may be), he heads off to visit his new-found parent. He turns out to be more than willing to take him in, and treats him as one of his own, but is far from stereotypical; in fact he tries to make him more at home by becoming even more Jewish than Leon's family.
This is an enjoyable film, but the laughs are not tightly packed together. Instead, it's a rather lightweight experience; fun, but not funny. There are some genuine "moments" but they tend to be a tad obvious, being based, as they are, on well-explored ideas. This is not helped by the film's use if very Allen-esque details--such as the strangers offering unasked-for advice, the neurotic mother and father, and the sweetheart who wants rather more that Leon can provide.
There are also one or two minor problems (not the least being what to do with Connie Booth's accent--if she's married to a Yorkshire pig farmer, why does she have a North American accent?), but hey, I enjoyed it, and although the basic ideas get pushed rather far than they should be (at times the film bogs down, usually when dealing with plot logic, as if the writers were keen to get to the next funny bit and didn't want to try too hard at that point), they at least have an original setting. The film also contains a clear metaphor for Leon's dilemma - I'll leave you to work out what it is--that serves to inject a bit more thought into the story than it would otherwise have.
Overall, it's a good film, but not one I'd go out of my way to see again.
-- Phil.
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