Big Nothing

Infobox Film
name = Big Nothing


caption = Cover of the DVD release
director = Jean-Baptiste Andrea
producer = András Hámor
writer = Jean-Baptiste Andrea
Billy Asher
starring = David Schwimmer
Simon Pegg
Alice Eve
Natascha McElhone
music = Harry Manfredini
cinematography = Richard Greatrex
editing = Daryl Jordan
Antoine Vareille
distributor = Pathé
released = UK December 1st 2006
runtime = 86 mins.
country = UK
language = English
budget = £3,000,000
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.BigNothing.co.uk/
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0488085

"Big Nothing" is a black comedy/neo-noir film directed by Jean-Baptiste Andrea starring David Schwimmer and Simon Pegg. It was released in December 2006.

The external locations of the film were the Isle of Man, Caerwent and other area's of Monmouthshire in Wales, Barry in Wales and Squamish, British Columbia.

Plot

The film is set in a small Oregon town, where a brutal serial killer nicknamed the 'Oregon undertaker' has been murdering and mutilating young women.

Charlie (David Schwimmer) is an ex-teacher turned disaffected call center employee who's fired on his first day. Distraught on being unable to provide for his daughter Emily and policewoman wife Penelope, he's approached by former colleague Gus (Simon Pegg), an aspiring scam artist who presents Charlie with a seemingly snag-free plan to make some cash: blackmail Reverend Smalls who, despite being a man of the cloth, has frequently turned up in the company database of visitors to illegal porn websites. Gus plans on extorting money from Reverend Smalls, with the intention of publicly exposing his secret shame should he refuse to pay up. Normally cautious Charlie reluctantly agrees to play a part in the scam, confident that with the money he'll garner from the deal he'd be able to turn things around for him and his family. When proud former teenage pageant queen Josie McBroom, Gus's scheming one-night stand, muscles in on the deal, their plan goes ahead.

However, it all goes horribly wrong as one misfortune after another ends in three dead bodies, and the death count just keeps rising while the night drags on.

Reception

"Big Nothing" received a mixed reaction from critics. The Guardian stated that "It's not funny; it's not thrilling; it's not anything, and it's especially painful to see that formidable actress Mimi Rogers roped into this uninteresting silliness". However, A BBC film reviewer called it an "enjoyably farcical thriller".

External links

*imdb title|id=0488085|title=Big Nothing