The Hot Potato (2011)

Reminds me of “Morons In Outer Space”, but these ones didn’t even have to leave Earth. Based on a true story, which is right scary, mate. The titular tuber is not a vegetable, but instead a lump of metal about the size of a grapefruit. It weighs about 60 pounds, because it’s made of the metal uranium. First time you watch this, it’s a mystery briefly, but the second time you can’t help but cringe when you see the things these idiots do to the potato.

Working-class Brits are the main cast, so the accents and slang get a bit heavy, but not too difficult to suss out what they’re on about. Just remember that “Old Bill” means the coppers, which means the police. Danny (Jack Huston) finds a shiny box when a weapons research lab blows up, and lugs it round to the metal salvage shop of his mate Kenny (Ray Winstone). It’s 1969, so the Cold War is in full swing, so there are a lot of shady and spicy people interested in getting hold of the potato.

Israelis want to make atom bombs, various gangsters want to make money, and everyone involved makes an ass of themselves through a combination of thuggery and stupidity. Thus, calling this a comedy. No pointedly uproarious laughlines, but generally funny throughout and all the characters are drawn as caricatures.

The plot winds across half a dozen European cities, as every operator in this farce chases the potato in the most inept manner possible. Great fun, engaging cast of small-time hoods and not-quite innocent regular folks caught up in a web of international cloak-and-dagger. And this really happened, yipes.

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