A headmaster obsessed with the clock (John Cleese) is to be given an honor for his achievements, but he finds that just getting to the ceremony intact is going to tax most of his energy. The film is a British production.
The pleasures of "Clockwise" stem not simply from gags, but from the kind of strong story construction that's almost disappeared from comedy.
Should be funnier, but not bad.
When a perfectionist and always punctual headmaster gets on the wrong train, his well-organized world is falling to pieces and a trail of chaos ensues. Of course John Cleese is the perfect choice for the British gentleman who is set in his ways and stumbles into a series of misunderstandings and inconveniences. He is easily selling this film even through his slower parts, but the script makes sure to add one wonderfully uncomfortable situation behind the other and makes for a very British, very entertaining experience, even if the film feels a bit dated. One cell phone call would solve the whole problem nowadays. Still, in a way it is sad that there are no such comedies anymore.
A scrupulously punctual headmaster in an English comprehensive school sets off for the Headmaster's Conference to deliver a keynote speech. One little slip sees him boarding the wrong train, which leads to a chain of consequences conspiring to keep him from his goal. This is one of the finest farces I've ever seen brought to the screen, written naturally enough by theatre farce-meister Michael Frayn. The frenetic energy of John Cleese in his prime really lifts this above the norm, as he hitches a ride with a student, bumps into and kidnaps an ex-girlfriend and winds up naked in a monastery. The climactic scenes at the HMC amount to perhaps the finest pay-off seen in farce. This is, indeed, a historic moment.
Boy, has this movie dated but it does offer some 80s nostalgia. John Cleese playing a Basil Fawlty like character, as he does best, embarks on a journey that would mark the height of all his accomplishments in life. However, everything that can go wrong does go wrong. If you've ever been in a situation where every decision you make just leaves you worse off then you'll be able to identify with this story: "It's not the despair. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand."
Brian Stimpson: It's not the despair. I can stand the despair. It's the hope!
Mrs. Garden: It don't who I am or when I am.