“There’s a sucker born every minute.” –P. T. Barnum
Written & Directed by Adam Sigal
Based on a true story. Hokey Smokes!
With: Simon Pegg as Nandor Fodor, Minnie Driver as Anne, Christopher Lloyd as Harry Price, Neil Gaiman as the voice of Gef the Mongoose.
“In ancient Mesopotamia, mongooses were sacred to the deity Ninkilim, who was conflated with Ningirama, a deity of magic who was invoked for protection against serpents. According to a Babylonian popular saying, when a mouse fled from a mongoose into a serpent’s hole, it announced, “I bring you greetings from the snake-charmer!” A creature resembling a mongoose also appears in Old Babylonian glyphic art, but its significance is not known.” —-Wikipedia
There is no mention of mongoose speech in the Wikipedia article, especially when it comes to prophesy, small talk, clairvoyance or in the making of long distance phone calls as Gef is apt to place. In his ignorance, the Wikipedia author likely thought it unnecessary. It would not have occurred to me or any man of reason. I cannot hope to speak for all the readers of Ruthless, many of whom are known to embrace superstitions and conspiracy theories. There are those among them who embrace the idea of telepathic communication with a disembodied yet masculine all powerful spirit, despite the lack of even the slightest amount of evidence. Logic is foreign to those who think they occupy center stage in the universe. Gef at least has an audible voice (Who in the hell spells Jeff, Gef?). Mickey Mouse spoke, but Walt never claimed he was real. He left to the public.
You might expect a homegrown mongoose to speak the local lingo, Manx, but there is no mention of that. Gef is no Celtic hero of myth or Púca, fer sure. There is a dearth of snakes on the Isle of Man, leaving Gef largely unemployed and free for mischief.
In 1937 Nandor Fodor, a lawyer by training and skeptic by nature, is a parapsychologist tasked by psychic detective Harry Price to investigate the reports of a talking mongoose living on a remote farm on the Isle of Man. He is accompanied by his lovely but dimwitted assistant, Ann.
Gef resides with a family of con artists, featuring a daughter who is a talented ventriloquist. As you might expect Gef or the VOG( Voice of Gef) has the best lines, but offers nothing useful like insider stock tips, or winning lotto numbers, but like in a good carnival mentalist act, supplied personal information just general enough to apply to most people.
VOGs home is protected by a phalanx of rural fascists whose spiritual descends infect much of the USA today. The only character missing is the kindly vicar from the local franchise branch of the Church of England.
Fodor is on to the con even before day one, but dim-bulb assistant is Ann is not surprisingly taken in. He is prevented from revealing the con by threat of litigation and some nebulously stated human need for belief in the supernatural.
Special mention must be made of Sara Deane’s beautiful cinematography, which gives the lackluster direction and ho-hum story far better credence than is deserved. Christopher Lloyd as Harry Price appears in two wraparound scenes in order to explain the story to the largely somnolent viewer (he had to have worked on a day-player contract, a week at most).
The only surprising thing about this movie, other than why it was made at all, is why Gef did not get his very own comic book series or Saturday morning kids cartoon show. He’d fit right in between Huckleberry Hound and Deputy Dog.
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