Those who are familiar with the hit BBC series – and, in fact, those who are not – will have an absolute blast with People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan. This British fly-on-the-wall mockumentary is both heartwarming and laugh-out-loud, pant-wetting funny.
Set three years after the events of the series, Kurupt FM has disbanded, the group slipping into regular jobs. MC Grindah (Allan Mustafa) is working as a postman, Kevin “DJ Beats” Bates (Hugo Chegwin) is working in a bowling alley, and Steves (Steve Stamp) is still lighting up in the Brentford flats. However, their destiny is set to change as their manager Chabuddy G (Asim Chaudhry) gets a call that one of their songs, ‘Heart Monitor Riddem’, has been used on a popular Japanese game show. Keen to meet the boys and offer them a recording deal, the record company, offers Kurupt FM offers to fly them out to Tokyo. And so, with Chabuddy in tow, they head to Japan on an adventure that will see them in unchartered territory, navigating an unknown land and fulfilling their musical destiny.
As I said, it really doesn’t matter if you’ve seen the show or not – I hadn’t prior to watching this feature extension. A brief montage at the start of the movie sets the scene and brings the viewer up to date with the lads’ lives so far, and after fifteen minutes or so we’re off to the airport as the boys board their plane to Japan.
The film is hilarious, pretty much from the off, the mockumentary style aligned with things like The Office, and it works wonderfully. A stand-out is the very talented Chaudhry who absolutely shines in his hilarious turn as the hapless band manager, someone who clearly has his heart in the right place, but can’t help but hinder. Scenes involving him had me in fits of giggles, a naturalistic performance that makes me want to head straight to the BBC iPlayer to find more gold from him. The others are equally good, Mustafa solid as the head of the group, another clearly talented actor and writer – as are all of them, really.
The story does taper off towards the end, though, the pacing slowing slightly to allow for a neatly packaged finale, but it does leave you wanting more. It was great comfort in knowing that there were 5 seasons to go back to witness further adventures, quietly hoping that this isn’t a swansong for Brentford’s finest. A solid, very, very funny British comedy.
People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan
Summary
A worthwhile, very funny extension of the hit series that will delight fans both old and new.
