SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

graduatedan There is a wonderfully absurd sensibility in Ponpidou, which stars Matt Lucas as the title character, a boorish aristocrat who's seen better days and finds himself living with his man servant and faithful dog in a run down trailer. The programme is virtually dialogue free, and therefore relies on the actors to communicate the story. For that reason, it may not be for everyone, but those willing to give it a try will be delighted by this charming, imaginative comedy. Pompidou, for example, has a pet fly that he keeps in his mother's false teeth container. His dog, actually a full sized puppet, wears a night cap to bed and reads books like Who's afraid of Virginia Woof. Pompidou, despite behaving like a petulant child much of the time, still manages to be endearing; one can't help feel sorry for the poor fellow. This is laugh out loud giddy fun that never talks down to the audience. A family comedy in the truest sense of the word.

Brent Brent I have no idea what the executives were thinking when they decided to produce this series. It is more abstract performance art than comedy. It seems like the writers/performance combined Benny Hill, Mr. Bean and Charlie Chaplin and managed to make it absolutely unfunny and totally predictable. The clever connivingness of Mr. Bean is attempted and what results is some mindless sketches that are similar to what one would find on a children's show.The character Pompidou is played very annoyingly by the main actor. I will give it to him that for 28 minutes, he is able to stay in the character. After 5 minutes, I wanted to stop watching because of the annoyingness. If you've ever been bored while cooking a meal or getting ready in the morning and made silly faces and noises, that's basically what the main actor does. It is more like fingers on a chalk board than cute or funny.With a character like Pompidou, there is nowhere to go, one would think. He is selfish, childlike, clueless, bumbling and mischievous. But he's a one note pony. Benny Hill, Charlie Chaplain and Mr. Bean had some depth of character which made you want to keep watching and eventually like the character. Pompidou has none of that. Add in some predictable, unnecessary slap stick and its just not fun. You find yourself saying, 'please don't let him slip on the banana peel a second time.' And Pompidou slips 4 times.Oddly, I think the story lines do work in that they are simple and if the concept/characters weren't utterly annoying they would be a good vehicle to deliver some good comedy in their simplicity. Occasional concepts/bits within the show are clever but are overused and become stale. By the second or third episode, you've pretty much seen all the depth you will see from the Pompidou character and then it just becomes a children's show caricature which runs in circles and is the same old annoying act.The annoying squeaks and 'language' the characters use to communicate ... It's like they are saying words but intentionally garble them so you can kind of understand, which is an interesting concept. However unlike say Scooby Doo where it is cute, it becomes annoying fast and I honestly think if the characters did speak, the show would actually be easier to watch. The avant garde concept does not work in this show, though it is a brave attempt at being different.Overall, this is an attempt at abstract performance comedy that just didn't work.

Ben Parker I don't know what this is, aside from weird. Its not weird in a Noel Fielding bizarre way, its weird in the way of why did they think this would be funny? Combining Pingu with Little Britain just falls incredibly flat. I suppose the problem will be that the audience for Matt Lucas does not intersect with the audience for Pingu. I, for instance, am a fan of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin & Co, but I found the jokes here tended to rely heavily on deciphering the odd word amongst the gibberish and found myself straining to interpret was what being said, rather than appreciating anything physical that was happening. A baffling experience. Failing a miracle I'm giving up on this one,1/10

Growlyted This is undeniably silly. It's meant to be. I giggled through every episode. Matt Lucas is already a favourite actor of mine from previous TV shows & films. Hove and the dog interact brilliantly with him. While this series has been billed as "silent"; in actual fact all the characters speak. It's just in their own special "gibb-lish." The plots are easy to follow and full of comic visuals. Some of these are surreal. There is no crudity in the humour. Pompidou is an innocent who inadvertently causes trouble for everyone around him, especially Hove. He endears himself to the audience, occasionally breaking the 4th wall. This is evidently a project that Matt put his whole heart into and I hope he can make more. There's nothing wrong with SILLY, providing that's what you're looking for. And there's a special surprise for Little Britain fans. (Ep 5.)