Comedy, like all things, is subjective.  There is no doubt though that Stephen Merchant is a funny man, whether on screen or off.  This film based upon and capping off his short-lived television series of the same name is a wonderful send-off that features everything you loved about the show, plus a little more.  It still finds our lovable loser Stuart Pritchard trying to woo ladies who are obviously not interested, but he is determined to find himself a supermodel girlfriend no matter how many times he strikes out.  More often than not, he drags his best friend Wade along, who does not improve his chances, and even his friend Kives, who loves life but also, does nothing to help Stuart with his goal.  So while Stuart looks for love in all the wrong places, he finds it where he least expects it.  Does it sound like the corny tagline to a romance movie?  Sure, but it does not lessen just how good this film is.

Stephen Merchant writes, directs and stars in this film and he plays the same character he did in the show just as you remember.  He is an awkward fellow and so is the humour, uncomfortably so most of the time, but that is the magic of the series and this movie.  It is more true to life than any network sitcom could ever claim to be and that is why this show works so well.  Everyone has had moments like these, being shot down by a girl or a guy, stumbling over the right words to say, and so on and Merchant understands that.  His performance is fantastic as well as Stuart is a man who is determined to win at life.  He is brimming with confidence yet also a little skeptical as to his abilities to win over the ladies.  He is sure he can do it, but always chokes when it comes right down to it.  It is hard to watch as it is so funny and so embarrassing at the same time.  Merchant’s writing really nails down all the emotions one would go through and the empathy factor is extremely high.

The rest of the cast is quite excellent as well, though they take a backseat to Merchant and Christine Woods who plays Jessica, the leading lady of the series.  Nate Torrence, Kevin Weisman and Kyle Mooney are all present as is Sean Wing as Stuart’s ‘toady’ who tries to help him score with girls.  There is a hilarious cameo with Nicole Kidman where it literally seems like it was not in the script at all and they just randomly went up to her to get the most honest reactions possible.  Though it was written like that, the acting was so flawless and the script so brilliant, it stands out as one of the real highlights of the film.

The worst thing about this series was that it was cancelled so soon, never managing to find an audience even though it had some great reviews.  How a show like this gets taken off the air before its time and other middling by-the-numbers sitcoms survive is a shame.  It always seems to be the case between things that show genius and those that pander and so it was here.  Though it is gone and done, the show ended with a conclusion that tied everything up, something many shows do not get and if we are lucky, it will be nice to see Merchant make his way back to the screen sooner rather than later.

5 out of 5