Watching a movie like this made me realize all the qualities that the majority of "comedies" coming out of Hollywood lack: real human characters instead of buffoons, whimsy, subtle interactions between people, comedy that comes straight from the characters in the movie rather than some screenwriter's contrivances or slapstick - and all of this without one scatological reference at all. From the bravura opening reminiscent of silent comedy, to the heartfelt closing radio soliliquy, the movie is a gem. The whole film, in its structure, tone, and details, is probably completely foreign to an American audience, yet at the same time, it is totally accessible, because the characters and situations are absolutely universal; this storyline could probably be tweaked slightly and set in any other country.
Anyone expecting a fast-paced movie will be disappointed: "Comfort and Joy" takes great pleasure in setting up scenes which most other comedies would put on the cutting room floor, but are beneficial in helping us to understand the characters. Like real life, a bunch of unrelated things just happen, one after another. For example: the several scenes with Dickie Bird interacting with the daughters of his married surgeon friend. There's no sly wit, cutting irony, or anything of the sort in this scenes: they are simply there to show how Bird really does out of the bottom of his heart want to help others, and may even feel bittersweet about not having children of his own to take care of. The same goes for his short scene with the bedridden old woman in the hospital. In this way, we understand why he is willing to go to such absurd lengths to find a compromise between two battling ice cream proprietors. In addition, if this were a Hollywood movie, there would be greater concentration on the relationship between Dickie and his girlfriend Maddie - possibly even having a wrap-up in which they get back together, all so producers could pitch this under the "romantic comedy" label. But that would ruin the movie, because this is in essence a character comedy about Dickie and his personal growth.
The tone of this movie is perfect, from veteran Chris Menges' gloomy cinematography, to Mark Knopfler's moody musical score. I must mention that I have never seen any of Bill Forsyth's other movies. They may be stylistically very different from this one, possibly more pungeant - I'm not sure - but people seem to look unfavorably upon this one in comparison to the others. In my opinion, this movie stands superbly on its own. Yes, it is simple, but the best comedic material is always simple: like Dickie's solution for the warring families, the movie is ingenious in its utter simplicity. Two scenes in particular are priceless: the scene showing how the ice cream truck music is produced, and the look on actor Bill Patterson's face when a psychiatrist asks him if he and his girlfriend had any unusual sexual practices. You don't find acting much better than Patterson's in this movie.
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