Review: ‘The Nan Movie’ is a raunchy and rebellious road movie, with genuine heart and humor.

THE NAN MOVIE

Listen, if you’re a fan of Catherine Tate, you’ll constantly smirk while watching the feature version of her iconic character, Joanie Taylor, better known as Nan. After finding out her estranged sister is dying, nephew Jaimie offers to drive her to see her ailing sibling. During the journey, we learn about her childhood, her subsequent falling out with Nell, and the reason Nan’s personality exists in the first place.

Jaimie’s genuine intentions lead Nan to interactions with a varying pool of hilarious people and ridiculous scenarios. Her irreverent behavior never ends. Nan does shots with a rowdy rugby team, attends a rave, and runs from police, just for starters. The clever transitional handcrafted 2D animation sequences are a hilarious ode to Jaime’s occupation and Monty Python. Mathew Horne as Jaime is the perfect foil for Tate. He essentially sits in as the audience in his failed attempts to keep Nan in check, emotionally and politically. Horne is so watchable. He has a natural charm.

It is the first time we hear Nan’s history. And boy, it is quite telling. It also allows Tate to shine her stellar acting skills with varying impressions, accents, and plenty of acerbic wit. You have to wonder how much dialogue is actually written by Tate and Brett Goldstein and how much is Tate’s famous improv abilities.

I first fell in love with her as a Whovian. Anyone who knows Tate’s performance as Donna Noble and, like me, did a deep dive into her extensive career understands what a pure delight she is. If you’ve seen her portrayal of Beatrice alongside David Tennant in the stage version of Much Ado About Nothing in 2011, you know the depths of her talent. Nan allows her to let loose in the most inhibited ways possible. In long form, The Nan Movie is a raunchy and rebellious road movie, with a side genuine of heart and humor. It is an undeniably fun watch, so get ready to sit back, relax, and laugh.


In Theaters and On Demand
July 22

Written by: Catherine Tate and Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso”)

Starring:
Catherine Tate (“The Office”, “Doctor Who”)
Mathew Horne (“Agatha Raisin,” “Gavin & Stacey”)
Katherine Parkinson (The Boat That Rocked, “The IT Crowd”)
Parker Sawyers (Southside With YouWorld On Fire)
Tom Vaughn-Lawlor (Avengers: Infinity War, “Peaky Blinders”)
Jack Doolan (“The Boys,” “The Green Green Grass”)
Niky Wardley (“The Catherine Tate Show”)


About Liz Whittemore

Liz grew up in northern Connecticut and was memorizing movie dialogue from Shirley Temple to A Nightmare on Elm Street at a very early age. She will watch just about any film all the way through (no matter how bad) just to prove a point. A loyal New Englander, a lover of Hollywood, and true inhabitant of The Big Apple.

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