Free Jimmy

Posted on October 13, 2008 at 3:10 pm by lkeddie | Permalink

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Released 17th October 2008

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As cute as Jimmy the elephant and the moose may be on the production images, do not be fooled: A kiddies’ animation this is not. No animated Free Willy here, though the title suggests a play on this classic film’s name. From the word go, there are dishevelled stoners, drugs and psychedelic puffs of smoke and hallucinations, half-naked females in uncompromising positions in posters on the walls, and enough ‘effin n blindin’ to turn the air a suitable shade of blue. Ever experienced animated porn? Now you can in full graphic, squelching detail. The visuals can only be described as a cross between Gorillaz, Headcases and Shrek, with a pace as horizontal as the dopers in it. Welcome to the wonderful animated world of drugs — edgy Nordic style, with no apologies made.——–
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It all starts with psychopathic circus tour manager Roy Arnie’s (voiced by Woody Harrelson) dream to run a circus of his own. But to do this, he must get the stashed gear — 7 kilos of heroin sown into Jimmy’s backside — and sell the gear for a million grand, only after recruiting the help of his reprobate ‘mates’. This bizarre assortment of equally dubious buddies consists of hardboiled scammer Odd (voiced by Simon Pegg), paranoid stoner Gaz (voiced by Phil Daniels — ‘Kevin’ from Eastenders), and hilarious speed freak Flea (voiced by Brit TV actor, Jay Simpson). But there’s one minor problem: Jimmy is a paranoid junkie with a loathing of cops (naturally) and imprisoned in a miserable little Russian circus who must be given the right cocktail of amphetamines and opiates, or all hell breaks loose — which is exactly what happens when Jimmy spots a copper in the audience and makes a break for freedom, crashing through the big top tent.

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To add to the ensuing mayhem is a squabbling bunch of indecisive animal rights activists who are hot on the stoners’ trail, having decided that Jimmy must be the symbol of their animal freedom movement. Meet hysterical, dog-loving Sonia (voiced by Samantha Morton) who wails at any animal death; egotistical, straight-living, self-proclaimed leader and bore, Marius (Kyle MacLachlan); and turbulent, lust-filled couple Lise (Lisa Maxwell) and Erik (Kris Marshall). To up the anti and the adventure further, a trio of mysterious and ferocious-looking Lap bikers, complete with antlers and trigger-happy fingers, pursue Roy for overdue payment. In a separate thread, a group of Scottish hunters roam the moors in search of a “moose lose about this hoose” (ok, it’s a play on the Scots saying but not entirely accurate), only to discover reformed addict Jimmy in the middle of the countryside instead. Bizarre hilarity ensues as the four groups converge on each with their eye on the elephant, resulting in a gory, gut-spilling shootout with cartoonist, The Matrix-style, slow-mo bullet effects that begin after one of the Lap bikers mistakenly loses his head in glorious Technicolor. Jimmy also has a shocking surprise for Sonia’s yapping mutt, Karma, too.

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Writer/director Christopher Nielsen’s quirky little film, co-penned in English by the ingenious Simon Pegg of Spaced fame, will touch you as suffering Jimmy is helped through his cold-turkey moments by the kind moose, only for the newfound friends to run free through the moors for a short period of time before tragedy strikes. It will also make you cackle with wicked laughter as two conservative and ignorant American backpackers, one of which is told that he is, “good with the ethnically challenged”, get a taste of the terrifying ‘natives’ in their idyllic mountain retreat, when stoned Roy and pals, oblivious to their quivering foreign guests, blindly make themselves at home, then the Laps come a-knocking… Many a fun moment will be had, but this is just one example.

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Devilishly eccentric as it is highly entertaining Free Jimmy is a peculiar gem, full of animated intricacies and individual personalities — both background and foreground — that might be missed on first viewing. You only have to mention its tagline — “Four stoners, three gangsters, five vegans, and a million reasons to free one junkie elephant…” — for curiosity to be pricked, plus it’s a refreshing change and ‘anti-animation’ to the cuddly plethora of family-focused films out there.

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By Lisa Keddie

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Synopsis

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Four stoners, three gangsters, five vegans and a million reasons to free one junkie elephant…

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We follow the story of four low life anti-heroes Roy Arnie, Odd, Gaz and Flea, who are uprooted from their mean city streets to work with Ringmaster Stromowski in a touring Russian circus in terminal decline. The star attraction is Jimmy, an elephant kept ‘happy’ on a cocktail of drugs. But Roy Arnie has a dream that one day he will run his own circus and he tells the boys that the key to his dream is Jimmy. On the opening night a bungled attempt to give Jimmy his ‘fix’ causes widespread panic. Jimmy escapes and so begins a mad cap cross country road-trip to find Jimmy before he goes cold turkey.

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Suddenly everyone wants a piece of Jimmy. A deranged bunch of animal activists led by clean-living, straight-edged couple Marius and Bettina are after Jimmy to front their cause. A trigger-happy Scottish hunting party thinks his head would look great mounted on their wall and The Lappish Mafia - the meanest men in the north (The League of Gentlemen - Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton) want to ‘hit’ him for a big payoff. Jimmy’s only chance is a benevolent moose who befriends him on the road. Can he help to Free Jimmy, release him from his addiction and save him from a million dollar secret…

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Film Facts

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Official UK site: http://www.freejimmy.com/

UK release date: 17th October 2008

Director: Christopher Nielsen

Writers: Christopher Nielsen, Simon Pegg

Cast: Woody Harrelson (’Roy Arnie’ (voice: English version)), Simon Pegg (’Odd’ (voice: English version)), Phil Daniels (’Gaz’ (voice: English version)), Jay Simpson (’Flea’ (voice: English version), Kyle MacLachlan (’Marius’ (voice: English version)), Samantha Morton (’Sonia’ (voice: English version)), Jim Broadbent (’Stromowskij’ (voice: English version)), Emilia Fox (’Bettina’ (voice: English version)), Kris Marshall (’Erik’ (voice: English version)), Lisa Maxwell (’Lise’ (voice: English version)), James Cosmo (’HudMaSpecs’ (voice: English version)), David Tennant (’Hamish’ (voice: English version))