Film

Svengali

Name: Svengali
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2013
Cast: Martin Freeman, Vicky McClure, Kumud Pant, Michael Socha, Maxine Peake

Other titles called Svengali: the 1931 film, the 1983 film.

Comedy
Light-hearted

A Welsh postman obsessed with discovering the next great band finds them on YouTube and decides to manage them, armed only with a cassette tape and unbridled optimism. Svengali is a scrappy, warm British comedy about passion meeting delusion, with genuine affection for its characters' hopeless dreams. It's for anyone who's ever loved something too much to see its flaws.

TMDb rating

2.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like comedies about obsession that find warmth in the messy hustle of chasing a band, with a fan's hopeful, slightly deluded energy running through every scene.

Skip it if your patience for shambling, low-key British comedy runs thin, or you need the music itself to dazzle rather than the characters' chaotic schemes wobbling around it.

What it asks of you: Settle in for a brisk ninety minutes of lightly absurd comedy that moves quickly and rewards patience with its loose, rambling scenes rather than big payoffs.

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