The Odd Job (1978) Blu-Ray Worldwide Premiere

The Odd Job (1978) Blu-Ray Worldwide Premiere

Severin Films champions genre-defying and celebrated Hungarian/British/American director Peter Medak with the Worldwide Blu-ray premiere of the hilariously dark THE ODD JOB, co-written by and starring Monty Python’s Graham Chapman.

Director Peter Medak’s 1978 black comedy is co-written by and stars Graham Chapman – just prior to LIFE OF BRIAN – as happily married Arthur Harris, who becomes suicidal when his wife suddenly up and leaves him. Trying and failing miserably to do the deed himself, when a peculiar handyman (BAFTA-winner Sir David Jason of ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES, in a role once intended for Keith Moon), turns up on his doorstep to offer his services, he enlists the help of this strange stranger, to kill him instead.

But when Arthur’s wife decides to come back home and try again, he discovers that his homicidal hire has every intention of finishing the job. Diana Quick (BRIDESHEAD REVISITED), Carolyn Seymour (THE RULING CLASS), Simon Williams (JABBERWOCKY), Bill Paterson (FLEABAG) and Richard O’Brien (THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW) co-star in this “crazy comedy” (Travalanche) co-written by Chapman with Bernard McKenna (YELLOWBEARD) and produced by Mark Forstater (MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL), now scanned in 2K from Peter Medak’s personal 35mm print.

Cult comedy THE ODD JOB is an odd beast, it is so desperately trying to be funny that it instead ends up overegging things and killing the humour, and it does not help either that the direction and pacing is so off. It is still worth a look, if only as a curiosity piece, especially given that ROCKY HORROR’s Richard O’Brien stars as a leather queen sidekick to the late Michael Elphick’s gangster Raymonde, not something that would sit well with modern day audiences watching a family-friendly PG rated film. THE ODD JOB should be a hoot it is not despite the ample talent in front of the camera.

THE ODD JOB started life as a short script co-written by Graham Chapman – this marking his first solo film effort away from Monty Python – and his frequent collaborator Bernard McKenna, with whom Chapman went on to co-write 1983’s YELLOWBEARD. That short script was first filmed as an episode of the Ronnie Barker TV series SIX DATES WITH BARKER (1971) and saw Barker play the role that Chapman went to play in this expanded feature-length remake and David Jason as the Odd Job Man, the very same role he went on to play in THE ODD JOB.

Originally Chapman had his eye on rock band THE WHO’s drummer Keith Moon for playing the Odd Job Man however the infamous hellraiser was unable to commit to filming partly because his alcohol consumption was becoming an issue and, he already had a lot on his plate to do with his band. David Jason then stepped in as Moon’s replacement therefore playing the same role he had played before, and he’s does a grand job; he’s fun to watch however his efforts are wasted.

Remember Michael Palin’s turn in1988’s smash hit comedy A FISH CALLED WANDA as stuttering animal lover Ken where his attempts to murder an older woman fail only for him to instead accidentally kill off another of her dogs every single time he tries? It was funny wasn’t it when presented episodically throughout the film. THE ODD JOB is essentially that same idea – a series of bungled assassination attempts – but stretched out to feature film length instead of a few minutes screentime and unfortunately for all the goodwill I afforded to it, it never failed to be more than a curious watch rather than an entertaining one. There is too much filler and not much in the way of common sense.

THE ODD JOB Special Features:

● Introduction by director Peter Medak

● Audio Interview with Peter Medak

● The Odd Job Men – Zoom reunion between star Sir David Jason and Peter Medak

● The Unusual Work – Interview with writer Bernard McKenna

● Producer, An Odd Job – Interview with co-producer Mark Forstater

● The Odd Batch – Interview with actor Richard O’Brien

● The Naughty Neighbour – Interview with actress Carolyn Seymour

● Most Peculiar Craft – Interview with actor Simon Williams

Feature Specs for THE ODD JOB:

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Audio: English Mono

Closed Captions: English SDH

Runtime: 88 mins

Region: A/B/C