Sex Lives of the Potato Men
DVD cover
Directed byAndy Humphries
Written byAndy Humphries
Produced byAnita Overland
StarringJohnny Vegas
Mackenzie Crook
Mark Gatiss
Dominic Coleman
CinematographyAndy Collins
Edited byGuy Bensley
Music bySuper Preachers
Distributed byEntertainment Films
Release date
  • 20 February 2004 (2004-02-20)
Running time
85 min
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Sex Lives of the Potato Men is a 2004 British sex comedy film, written and directed by Andy Humphries. The film concerns the sexual antics of a group of potato delivery men in Birmingham and stars Johnny Vegas and Mackenzie Crook.

Sex Lives of the Potato Men has been called one of the worst films of all time.

Cast

Critical reception

Critics disliked the film intensely. The film has a 0% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 2.1/10.[1]

James Christopher of The Times called it "one of the two most nauseous films ever made".[2] Writer Antonia Quirke, writing for the Evening Standard, called it "mirthless, worthless, toothless, useless".[3] Kevin O'Sullivan in the Daily Mirror called it "one of the worst films ever made".[4] Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian wrote, "it's a film which isn't in the slightest bit funny or sexy, and is deeply depressing. It also diminishes the reputation of many excellent TV comics, who are made to look tawdry and naff up there on the big screen in an echoing cinema".[5] Catherine Shoard, in a review of the film in The Sunday Telegraph, stated "It's hard to know what to say to this – it's like finding the right words at a nasty accident... Sex Lives of the Potato Men is probably the lewdest Brit-com since Confessions of a Window Cleaner, and certainly the worst". Shoard also described the film as "Less a film than an appetite suppressant".[6] Ben Davis in the Morning Star later included Sex Lives of the Potato Men on his list of some of the year's worst films.[7]

One of the few positive reviews for Sex Lives of the Potato Men came from Mark Adams in the Sunday Mirror, who wrote that "Vegas and Crook are a sleazy dream-team and brilliantly cast as the soft-core spud men... After several pints and a curry it could be the lads' film of the year."[8]

It was also controversial in that nearly £1 million of public money from the National Lottery via the UK Film Council was used to fund the project.[9] Nigel Andrews in the Financial Times criticised the use of lottery funding for the film.[3]

Years after the film was released, Sex Lives of the Potato Men was still being described by film critics as an unusually bad film. Hostile critics include Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian,[10] and the BBC's Mark Kermode, who described the film as "absolutely, indescribably horrible, vulgar, stupid, tawdry, depressing, embarrassing, filthy, vile, stinky, repugnant, slimy, unclean, nasty, degenerative and mind-numbing".[11] The Birmingham Post described it as "quite possibly the worst film ever made",[12] while the Independent on Sunday stated that the film was "a strong contender for the title of worst film of all time".[13] Donald Clarke of The Irish Times stated that "Sex Lives of the Potato Men attracted some of the worst reviews in living memory".[14] The film magazine Empire placed it at no. 7 in its list of "The 50 Worst Movies Ever".[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Sex Lives of the Potato Men". rottentomatoes.com. 10 December 2022.
  2. ^ Christopher, James (20 February 2004). "Masterclass in nauseous ineptitude". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b Critics Pan "Worst Film Ever" Sky News, 23 February 2004. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  4. ^ Kevin O'Sullivan, Daily Mirror, 5 March 2004, (p.14)
  5. ^ Review: Sex Lives of the Potato Men The Guardian, 20 February 2004. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  6. ^ Catherine Shoard, The Sunday Telegraph, 22 February 2004.
  7. ^ Ben Davis, Morning Star, 31 December 2004.
  8. ^ Mark Adams, Sunday Mirror, 22 February 2004.
  9. ^ Sex comedy film grant criticised BBC News online. Retrieved 03-02-2007
  10. ^ "Twelve film-lovers pick their most hated movies of all time". The Guardian. 2 July 2004.
  11. ^ "Mark Kermode". TV.com. CBS Interactive.
  12. ^ Mike Davies, Birmingham Post, 24 April 2008 (p. 13).
  13. ^ Matthew Bell, Independent on Sunday, 8 February 2009, (p. 42).
  14. ^ Donald Clarke, "Out of Office:Interview with Mackenzie Crook". "The Ticket" magazine, The Irish Times, 25 April 2008, (p.6).
  15. ^ The 50 Worst Movies Ever Empire.

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