If only literary theory could always be this fun. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is one of those classic novels that few people have actually read, but director Michael Winterbottom has made it entertaining enough to get me to actually consider reading it. Or maybe I’ll just see this witty “adaptation” again instead. Winterbottom’s film essentially is a mockumentary following the behind-the-scenes attempts of a film crew to adapt Laurence Sterne’s 1759 book. British comedian Steve Coogan – playing “Steve Coogan” playing Tristram – flagellates himself as an egotistical movie star, all while a comic supporting cast – including Rob Brydon, Jeremy Northam and Gillian Anderson – do various sorts of spoofing on the sidelines. Without anyone actually noticing it, A Cock and Bull Story develops into a more faithful Tristram Shandy film than any straightforward adaptation could. Sterne was as playful and self-aware as any postmodern writer – at one mournful point in the novel, he simply included a black page – and A Cock and Bull Story faithfully captures that spirit. It might even make you miss English class.
