It shows how far behind my video watching has got that I just got around to watching this film which I had taped around 9 months ago.
The plot revolves around a real-life event a few years ago when a group of British plane spotters fell foul of the Greek authorities and found themselves in jail and then sent for trail on espionage charges. The Greeks simply could not believe or understand that writing down plane details was a hobby and were convinced their motives were more sinister.
The chief spotter is played by Mark Benton who is presently starring in an ITV series "Northern Lights" as well as in several TV commercials. He is making a bit a name for himself as a leading TV comedy actor and you can see why with a strong performance here that captures both the humour and bathetic seriousness of the situation he finds himself in. The ever-reliable Lesley Sharp plays his wife brilliantly and they are surrounded by a group of character actors who convey the stunning anal concentration of the group to the fore. (Examples include cell talks on the history of RAF Brize Norton whilst they are banged up and STILL spotting plane numbers from their cell windows).
In reality it is simply a tale of a group of eccentric underdogs battling against the odds in a strange land (apart from the fact it is based on reality the subject could have formed the foundation of an Ealing comedy 50 years ago) and is well worth watching should the opportunity come your way.
