B-Movies: Circus

B-Movies & Couch Classics
Reviews of Movies Often Overlooked or Forgotten

Circus
2000, Columbia/Tri-Star
Home Video

by Arik Ben Treston

Rarely do I watch a film and not know what I think about it soon after I view it, but that’s exactly what happened with Circus. It took time to digest this strange British film and it wasn’t until the next day that I knew that I really liked this quirk-fest. Circus includes a diverse cast, including John Hannah (the fun drunk Brit from The Mummy), Tiny “Zeus” Lister (the giant “Deebo” from Friday), Famke Janssen (Goldeneye, House on Haunted Hill), Peter Stormare (Fargo, The Lost World), Fred Ward and the very funny cross-dressing British comic Eddie Izzard. This is a well-cast group with genuine on-screeen chemistry.

The plot is convoluted but fun to watch unfold as these individuals try to wheel and deal their way through debts, murders and underworld shenanigans. The likable Hannah and Janssen, two lovers sprinting from their past, lead the show as they take on new challenges and situations which might prove deadly to them. Hannah’s old friend asks him to help out with a hit and it’s at this point that things get sticky and everyone involved gets too involved and you don’t know who is good, who is bad, who to trust or, well you get the gist of it. Izzard is hounding Hannah throughout for money owed him. Ward is looking for revenge. Lester wants to kill for payback. Stormare doesn’t appear to know what he wants. And, finally, our heroes (or are they?), Janssen and Hannah, are just trying to get some extra sleep in their funky boat-bed.

What makes this movie interesting is the slow fleshing out of the characters. It’s not strictly a comedy but it isn’t a drama or action film either. Circus tends to take a bite out of each genre and mix it up. When the film has finished and all of the storylines have come together you begin to think about it more and more as you play it back in your head and see how the pieces fit. My internal dialogue, after watching the film, led me to realize that I did indeed enjoy this fresh change from predictable plots.