Sex Lives Of The Potato Men Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
The search for the lowest form of life on the planet is over.
Mackenzie Crook and Johnny Vegas star as the bird-chasing, self-proclaimed "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" of Birmingham in this £3 million brit-com about two lowlifes with active fantasy sex lives who deliver potatoes to various restaurants and grocers.
| Johnny Vegas | Dave |
| Mackenzie Crook | Ferris |
| Mark Gatiss | Jeremy |
| Dominic Coleman | Tolly |
| Barry Aird | Gherkin Man |
| Jeff Alexander | Bloke in group sex |
| Adrian Chiles | Sex Party Host |
| Amerjit Deu | Doctor |
| Justin Edgar | Chip Shop customer |
| Huss Garbiya | Beans |
| Robert Harrison | Kevin |
| Nick Holder | Gordon |
| Alfie Hunter | Matthew |
| Laurence Inman | Bored Bloke in porn shop |
| Ceris Jones | Poppy's Brother |
| Andy Humphries |
4.30 out of 10 (812 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Rude, crude, filthy and oh so funny.
posted on 10 Aug 2009Comedian Johnny Vegas and co-star of 'The Office' Mackenzie Crook star as Dave and Ferris in this crazy British Comedy.Dave and Ferris are potato delivery men who consider themselves the sex gods of Birmingham and feel that sex is the solution to their problems, but what they don't realise is that its also the cause of their problems.After Dave (Vegas) has a fight with his his wife he looks for a "good time" in any shape or form, whilst Ferris (Crook) has various problems with his mother in law and the girl from the local chip shop. And if thats not enough they have to follow the sad lives of two other potato men, Jeremy who is obsessed with an ex-girlfriend and Tolly who has a strange addiction to strawberry jam.In my opinion Sex Lives of the Potato Men is the funniest pure Britcom in absolutely ages and will no doubt become quite popular. I like it because of the mindless remarks and dumb conversations, they talk about anything and take it to its funniest resolution.Although its stupid and will most likely be considered offensive to some people (infact, when i went to see it a woman walked out about half way through) the comedy carries the film all the way and you'll find it impossible not to laugh.
Exactly What It Says On The Tin
posted on 02 Aug 2009Sex Lives of the Potato Men is about the sex lives of several men involved in delivering potatoes. So there are no surprises there. It is, in fact, pretty much what you might expect from the title: that is, it's a quirky comedy involving sex and potato men. At times the film works. It's an edgy, sometimes uncomfortable comedy about the lives of some rather unimportant and rather average men who are having problems of various sorts with women. Where the film clearly does not work, and why it failed at the box office, is that the quirky, uncomfortable parts are perhaps just a shade too quirky and uncomfortable. Instead of laughing during the scene of a man suspended from a basement ceiling masturbating over another man while he makes love to his wife, I think most of us just kind of groan awkwardly and wonder what Andy Humphries was thinking. Well, perhaps we are shown what he was thinking all too clearly.
Even if you liked it, it's still rubbish
posted on 07 Jul 2009I watched this film with a sort of dangerous fascination, like a hedgehog trapped in the headlights. There is no doubt that (even if you enjoyed it) it's a bad movie, but the important question is why? It has a good cast; it's lively; it's prepared to tackle sex head on, with some of the characters actually getting some of it here and there, which is unusual for a British comedy. It also has Johnny Vegas and Mackenzie Crook, Marmite performers agreed but they've have had their moments in the past.What it's principally lacking is charm. The characters are impossibly idiotic, unbelievable and alienating, so that instead of a film of Men Behaving Badly the producers have made Game On. Any mediocre writer wanting to make a film about the sexual attitudes of dozy, sexist British men would have got hold of a few copies of Loaded, Zoo or even Viz to read Sid the Sexist and the thing would have written itself. Instead, the producers clearly tried to make up some moronic, difficult to care about, characters. Character comedy - as opposed to slapstick etc - only works if the audience can recognise some human truth to the situation. But watching this film is like being told an annoying joke that you know is not going to end up funny but you can't stop it.Sadly, the film is also poorly made. The plot structure is weak, there's little character delineation or development, and many of the scenes aren't funny. Time after time the same lame reggae chips in to divide scenes, pointlessly and gratingly. There's a lot of needless repetition - when you've done one joke about parking outside a sex party you don't need to do it again. One wonders what the UK Film Council saw in the script.This is a world where most men are rakes, and most women are continually up for it. The Apartment and Alfie satirised much the same world view, but the producers of this film accept it without criticism. Thus they've ended up with a kind of inferior update of Confessions of a Window Cleaner. Somebody British needs to have another go at this kind of thing, and do it properly – a good next project for Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright I think...
Over time this will increase in popularity
posted on 05 Jul 2009Not sure I should admit this, but i've seen this film a few times. I didn't rate it much when I first saw it, but it has characterisations that grow on you after a second and third watch. It was panned in the British media as the worst film ever made (probably by people who hadn't seen it) but the real reason was middle england's view that arts subsidies should only go to bringing down £100 opera seats to £90, not to make crude films. Johnny Vegas is fantastic, but McKenzie Crook steals it as the put-upon sexual plaything, Ferris. The emotionless portrayal of sex is bold in that it is amongst real everyday folk, not glamorous soft-core. Ignore the press and enjoy it for what it is - a good modern comedy
Awful appalling dreadful English film
posted on 06 May 2009The unfunniest so called comedy I've ever seenNot a patch on the naturalism of the hilariously dare Twin TownVegas I ;like normally but this script is so dire so predictable so well English in the worst way (In recent years the English films have been awful all of them) Ireland at least produced the commitments, Scotland with Braveheart and Trainspotting 2 stand out great movies and Wales had Twin Town, Zulu, Last Days of Dolwyn , Torchwood, Doctor Who and Under Milk Wood etcThe comedy is paint by numbers, the actors are dead men walking because there is no characterisation and no originality and it's just so unfunnyEngland is falling behind no matter how many grim up north movies they produce. It's the old class system that destroys English films. The Oxbridge graduates spewing endlessly clichéd scripts about working class people they've never lived with. It is pathetic. Monty Python wasn't funny, neither was anything from Oxbridge.Let guys like Jonny Vegas and Peter Kay, Rob Brydon, Billy Connolly or write their own dialogue and forget the archaic failed class system let the working class people and the real talent that comes through the system properly take over the writing and the British and English film industries will rise again what next prince Edward to write a modern day Oliver Twist?
"The search for the lowest form of life on the planet is over..."
posted on 24 Apr 2009STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsWith a tagline like that (heck,with a title like that).When most of the rave reviews on the promotional poster come from mens magazines (e.g. Loaded,Ice.)When your leading star is a comedian who bases his act on his drinking and whose most memorable comedic acheivement to date,as far as I can remember,has been to say 'monkey' in a funny Northern accent,it was pretty safe to assume Sex Lives of the Potato Men was not a film that was going to derive most of it's humour from 'the-chicken-crossed-the-road' type jokes.And boy,during it's viewing,do you know it.Dave (Johnny Vegas) has recently separated from his wife and is now dedicating his life to having as much sex as possible.As is his mate Ferris (Mackenzie Crook) who's being manipulated by his mother-in-law into satisfying her depraved sexual requests,not to mention a few other peoples.Some of this is good,some of it is bad,and the film follows these fickle,superficial ne'er-do-wells as they go after all their sexual endeaveurs.The soundtrack,as with many British comedies,is pretty good.But,hey,go and buy the LP then.As for the film itself,one or two scenes raised a mild titter out of me,but the tone of Sex Lives of the Potato Men generally tends to enjoy it's nasty side far too much for the humour to shine through at any rate.The film is utterly plotless,structureless and completely incoherent,serving instead to just bombard us with as much crass sexual depravity and tasteless humour to laugh us in to submission,when instead it just wears down the human spirit of the discerning member of British society as much as it can until the end credits roll by.It certainly feels a lot longer than 82 minutes,as well,and that should testify to the lack of plotline involved.Neither Vegas or Crook carry the film engagingly in any way or have any sort of humourous presence to speak of,and the title is utterly ridiculous whatever way you look at it.It's funny,because the IMDB recently conducted a daily poll asking what the most ridiculous title had been so far of 2004,and this,being a British film,was not included.Too bad.Overall,a wholly unfunny endeavour which is also a discouraging testament to the current state of British culture.On an entirely personal level,I could only enjoy it for being set in Birmingham,my home city,and being able to recognise and point out certain spots in which it was filmed.Note,the characters in this film do NOT represent the mental wavelength along which all Brummies think.Come and talk to me if you can't bring yourself to agree.*
One of the least funny and least likable films ever attempted by anyone.
posted on 12 Jan 2009The Daily Mail's Christopher Tookey had some choice things to say about this film, among them "watch it all the way through its 82 miserable minutes, and I guarantee you'll be shaking your head and asking: 'Have we really descended to this?' Yes, we have, for if ever a movie testified to the utter cynicism, tastelessness and moral corruption of those who commission and make British movies, it is this abomination". Tookey continues "aimed squarely at oafs with unwashed underwear, filthy minds and knuckles that graze the pavement when they walk, this sex comedy is so sordid, unfunny and malodorous that it is enough to put you off sex, and indeed films, for life", before concluding "Sex Lives of the Potato Men is not merely a truly vile film, it is symptomatic of a new national culture of instant self-gratification, yobbishness and sadism that is now being celebrated on screen". Normally I don't listen too closely to the critics, but in this case, Tookey was bang on the money. This film goes beyond bad, indeed, it goes beyond being merely unfunny and enters some bizarre parallel universe where every painful minute drags on for an hour and where the definition of 'hilarious' seems to be 'saying tw*t in a Brummie accent'. It's depressing to anyone with half a brain who grew up with the Goodies, Monty Python, Spitting Image, Not the Nine O'Clock News and Fawlty Towers.Ideally, Sex Lives Of the Potato Men would have quietly vanished after its cinema release and joined the equally dire Vix spin-off The Fat Slags (2004) and the ill-starred All Saints vehicle Honest (2000) in the celluloid graveyard, but as it seems destined for endless late night schedule-filling screenings and misguided "best film EVER!" raves from people who should know better, so I must apologise in advance for trying to right a wrong that the British film industry, in all its wisdom, has inflicted onto an undeserving world. Yes, I really am sorry to bring this one back from the celluloid dead, but I actually remember thinking "It can't be as bad as the critics said it was"...but, as God is my witness, it was WORSE.Acting - dire from start to finish, special mention to Mackenzie 'Albert Steptoe's legs on a young man's body' Crook.Soundtrack - cut and paste 'ladrock', mostly ska-based lager-lout-friendly pub jukebox piffle which brought back horrible memories of seeing those chirpy cockernee doin' the Lambeth Walk to a watered-down imitation of the Specials knob-shiners Madness on every single comedy / variety programme in the eighties...and 'Ace Of Spades' by Motorhead as the title music? What the hell...trying to evoke memories of one of the most genuinely exciting scenes ever offered by The Young Ones, indeed, ever offered by ANY comedy show?! Cheap shot, way below the belt.Script - written by a 12 year old who's just read every single back issue of Smut and Zit in one long Red Bull-fuelled session...SURELY? C'mon, no real, proper, worldly, grown-up person could possibly set this kind of retarded hogwash on paper? And Mark Gatiss was in it...Mark Gatiss...the least annoying member of the League of Gentlemen and Goodies fan taking part in such a towering heap of fly-blown cinematic excrement? 'One of the brightest British comedy stars'? Not any more he's not! On the subject of League Of Gentlemen, somebody give me a pair of lead-lined diver's boots and Steve 'face like a collapsed rectum' Pemberton and a long weekend in a soundproofed room before I die...PLEASE...Cinema, British or otherwise, just doesn't come much worse than this. Kent Bateman's The Headless Eyes (1971) is a new-wave masterpiece compared to this repugnant smut.
This will be a Cult Film
posted on 31 Dec 2008If you believed the reviews you would think was going to be a complete howler, the truth is that it is a very funny English film. Of course it is in bad taste and it is not one for the family, but surely those of us whose humour stretches further than My Family and Last of the Summer Wine can have something to make us chuckle. I think this will be a cult film alongside Withnail and I and Snatch. The film was well written and directed, the acting was very good and there are loads of laughs. This is a blokes film and the humour is very pubby, but who gives a stuff. I am fed up having to apologise because something risqué makes me laugh.If you want a list of bad films ( and I mean bad) then try theses1. I Robot 2. Truly Madly Deeply 3. A.I. 4. Bridget Jones DiaryOff to get my strawberry Jam and a Dead Panda
Could this be one of the WORST BRITISH MOVIES EVER MADE? Answer: YES.
posted on 15 Dec 2008Mackenzie Crook and Johnny Vegas are bright young things. Both possess sharp wits, that certain everyman likeability, and an obvious comic timing that lends itself well to acting - pity then that they've got such embarrassingly dire material to work with here. And I mean DIRE. And EMBARRASSING.The plot mainly resolves around Dave (Vegas) and Ferris (Crook), two inept potato deliverymen who after being dumped by their respective lady friends embark on a simple quest to get as much S-E-X as possible. Along with their mate Tolly (Coleman) and boss Jeremy (Gatiss), they believe sex is an antidote to their pathetic, uninspiring, dull-as-dishwater existence.** START SPOILERS ** As Dave organizes a threesome (and then a crude gangbang) with his ex-partner, Ferris is literally raped by his mother in-law in return for free board, Jeremy goes on to kidnap his former girlfriends dog in an act of revenge and Tolly encourages the usage of jam and fish paste when romping with simpleminded prostitutes. ** END SPOILERS**And. That. Is. It. Frankly, this film is eighty-odd minutes of boring, childish OFFENSE.This film tries so hard to be Dumb And Dumber or Kingpin: a clever, witty, inventive example of cinema crudeness. In comparison, Sex Lives of the Potato Men is one of the dumbest, nastiest, crudest and most unamusing films ever committed to celluloid.It really is that bad. How on earth a film/script/story of such obvious shortcomings was green lit in the first place (with a budget of more than THREE MILLION POUNDS!!!!) is anyone's guess.Heads should roll when a film as bad as this is released. An utter disgrace to the floundering British film scene.
Completely disgustingly alright actually
posted on 09 Dec 2008Oh my, such pretension, such pontificating, such bollox forwarded by other IMDb users. This film "does exactly what it says on the tin" (sorry American readers). It's called SEX LIFE OF THE POTATO MEN - did you expect English PATIENT perchance ?? Admittedly - I, like another member thought it would be akin to "Bottom" (sorry American readers) but after 5 minutes had that notion blown out of the water.My word, it certainly was crude - but who cares - give me crude anytime ahead of American graphic slaughter.I thought is beautifully disgusting, wonderfully crass, amazingly childish and above all exactly what I expected !!Now how's that for pretension
Sex Lives of the Potato Men
posted on 25 Nov 2008I did see the DVD in Blockbuster once, and then I was reminded about it with the great 18 Stone of Idiot, and when it was actually on, I didn't know what to expect. The story as far as I remember is that Dave (Johnny Vegas) is a potato delivery man, along with co-workers Ferris (The Office's Mackenzie Crook), Jeremy (The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss) and Tolly (Dominic Coleman). Basically the whole film revolves around their separate experiences trying to get sex in different ways. Dave gets orgies with his ex and many men, Ferris is getting it on with big women, Jeremy is following one girl (as far as I remember), and Tolly is obsessed with covering his partners with jam. Also starring Shaun of the Dead's Lucy Davis as Ruth. Don't even bother renting or watching this film, unless you like Johnny Vegas like I do. I suppose there is some good gross comedy, e.g. a super soaker spraying mashed and mixed dog crap, but there is nothing new or interesting, and even Vegas or the other recognisable people can't save it. Poor!
Loved it
posted on 21 Nov 2008I loved it, and my red-blooded friends who I have showed it to love it too. More than a million pounds well spent, let's have more of it. For an alpha-male it's a thousand times more entertaining than the period piece dross like 'Brideshead Revisited' or 'The Dutchess' that one's wife or girlfriend can subject one to on a Saturday night. Blokes, if you drink Stella and want a DVD for you, this is it.Let's not lose sight of the fact that SLOTPM is not billed as a chick's flick or a cinematic masterpiece a'la 'The Shawshank Redemption' or 'Apocolypse Now'. The poor reviews reflects how out of touch these conservative, Tory-voting newspaper movie reviewers really are - so out of touch with the common man they are on a par with bankers. This is 'substance over style' personified, right up there with 'Borat', 'Stickmen','Kenny' and 'The Nuggett'. I laughed all the way through, which is what I want when I grab a title from the 'comedy'section of Blockbuster. If only all male comedies could be this good ... cinematic nirvana.
Dreadful.....
posted on 16 Sep 2008The trailers had looked promising; the reviews were dreadful, but I like to make up my own mind. It's simply awful and not funny. Not once did I laugh out loud; I don't think I'd have found it funny if I was still a teenager. The only redeeming feature is some of the music used, including Dexy's Midnight Runners. As a movie though it must surely rank as one of the worst ever. I spoke to several people, of different ages, coming out of the cinema and they agreed. A total waste of time and money.
Excellent
posted on 29 Aug 2008I thought Sex Lives Of the Potato Men was the most hilarious film Ever!! Vegas and Crooke are excellent together. I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks and when I did finally stop, I started again. Johnny Vegas is naturally funny, and him being in this film gave it a funny atmosphere, and I knew it was going to be funny when I found out that Vegas was in it!! Great Film!! Vegas is excellent! I watch this film about twice a day and I cannot get enough of it. Every time I watch it I find a new and funnier thing to laugh at. This is the best film I have ever seen... and the people that haven't watched it, you don't know what you are missing. People who have and don't like it... you have no sense of humour!!
Sense of humour faliure - this film was hilarious
posted on 23 Aug 2008Sorry to all those reviewers who gave this film a bad rating (shame on you), but I thought it was hilarious.The scene with his mother-in-law's mother (waiting for her taxi) was one of the funniest scenes I have watched for ages. OK, this film was totally disgusting throughout (and strangely without any nude scenes I remember).The only thing that did let it down was a good story line. The humour was cringe making, but it was supposed to be.This film delivers what it says - if you hate this film and like Little Britain, you are a b*****y hypocrite!! Bad (very) taste, British pub humour?, watch this, you won't be disappointed.
Funny but filthy
posted on 04 Jun 2008Being a girl this is the sort of film that I was warned about watching, but being an open minded individual I decided to give it a go.I hate to say it but I found Johnny Vegas' acting not overly great, however Mackenzie Crook was very good, very believable character (I loved him in the office and I was worried that I would be put off by his acting ability in this film, but I was pleasantly surprised!)This film shows a humorous side to kinky areas of sex that some people get up to which I found really funny, and quite a lot of it true !! Some people are very weird in the bedroom!There's not really a detailed plot line, but judging on the title of the film I didn't hold out much hope :)so i wasn't disappointed!
a momumentally erected phallic millstone of british cinema!
posted on 01 Apr 2008with no exually explicit nude sex scenes involving star johnny vegas (thank god) and featuring the greatest worst script ever commisoned; this zero grade UK yucko turkey is a true bummer if ever there was one. complete, sincere and unmitigated shyte!
Super film - watch it with or without the wife, you'll enjoy it!
posted on 26 Mar 2008I laughed and laughed and laughed at this brilliant movie. I brought round a pal to watch it and he was in stitches too. Well done to the movie makers and actors involved - it was really fun and genuine entertainment. Stuff those stuffy shirts who look too deeply into this sort of thing. This one is highly recommended and I could guarantee a "movie" party of ten or twelve 50 somethings (male viewers) cracking up at the varied pointless plots, crazy scenes and unbelievable situations the potato men find themselves in. You don't need to write much about this movie you just need to see it. Anyone who enjoys rugby, drinking with the lads, likes women and can see the unfunny and funny side of being on ones own will like this. Its being shown repeatedly on Sky movies now - try and grab a slot to watch it.
Very very bad
posted on 18 Mar 2008After the reviews for the opening weekend I thought SLOTPM couldn't be that bad. Surely the critics are just being snobbish and trying to lynch the Film Council.This film is terrible. Please don't bother to go and see it unless you want to watch an abject lesson in how to make a bad film.The jokes (actually are there any jokes that are in there?) are telegraphed a mile off and some amazing comic talent is wasted on a script that sounds as if it was written on the back of a fag packet.I hope the film makers earned a decent wage on it so they can now retire and never go near a camera again.
Which Agents?
posted on 12 Aug 2009Could someone please find out, and name, all the agents who felt it would be a good thing for their clients to be involved in Sex Lives of the Potato Men. Supposedly, film companies use agents as a method of "quality control" but where's the quality in this, and many other, cases (Thunderpants, Weak At Denise etc.)? Perhaps some of the agents involved in this disaster might like to comment on how their decisions to go with it were made. All aspiring screenwriters await their responses with deep interest.