Thunderpants film review

certificate_PG

THUNDERPANTS

Thunderpants is a gas - methane to be exact, because Peter Hewitt's sweet yet slight family comedy is the story of a young boy with the gift of high velocity flatulence.

The film is - by its very design - one protracted fart gag, but there's a sweetness to many of the characters.

More importantly, rising star Rupert Grint (who played Ron Weasley in Harry Potter) delivers another terrific supporting performance as a child genius. Rosy-cheeked moppet Bruce Cook plays Patrick Smash, a mischievous schoolboy blessed with a unique and embarrassing medical condition: chronic wind. His only friend is pint-sized inventor Alan A Allen (Grint) who has his own physical disability - he has no sense of smell. Lucky lad!

Alan strives to make Patrick's life bearable by creating gizmos and gadgets to harness the boy's seemingly inexhaustible bottom emissions.

In time, the young inventor creates the eponymous Thunderpants, which harness the gas produced by Patrick, and store it safely for disposal.

When NASA learns of Allen's technical genius, they soon recruit him to help them rescue the crew of a stricken space station. Blast off!

Meanwhile, opera singer Sir John Osgood (Simon Callow) recruits Patrick to use the power of his nether regions to create the highest musical note ever sung, and thereby depose his bitter rival Placido P Placeedo (Adam Godley).

Thunderpants is undemanding, inoffensive fun shot in a larger-than-life, comic book style. There's an underlying darkness to Patrick's story (his father abandons him, he is bullied mercilessly at school) recalling Roald Dahl.

Cook delivers an appealing if somewhat one-note performance as the tormented hero with plenty of puff power. However, he's completely acted off screen by Grint (virtually unrecognisable with perm and buckteeth), as the effervescent child prodigy who works tirelessly to end Patrick's misery.

The great and the good of the British acting establishment enjoy wacky cameos: Stephen Fry is an oily lawyer, Leslie Phillips dons a wig as a no-nonsense judge, and Celia Imrie plays the boys' Kommandant-like headmistress.

As family films go, Thunderpants has plenty of scrapes and japes for youngsters, not to mention continuous high volume farts. They're always good for a laugh!