‘Lively language’: Why two of the best modern actresses use some of history’s worst words

Some lively language and shrewdly relevant commentary makes Wicked Little Letters quite a spicily satisfactory affair, writes Leigh Paatsch.

WICKED LITTLE LETTERS (MA15+)

Director: Thea Sharrock (Me Before You)

Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Timothy Spall, Anjana Vasan

Rating: ***

Everyone swears, but everyone swears it isn’t them

Here’s something a little different, then. Actually, make that a lot different.

How so? Well, Wicked Letters takes two of the best actresses of the modern era, and has them using some of the worst words in the history of the English language.

Fret not. The movie is not here to burn your ears, nor stain your vocabulary.

Oscar-winning star Olivia Colman (The Favourite) and her equally accomplished counterpart Jessie Buckley (Wild Rose) have their reasons for swearing so hard and so often.

Wicked Little Letters is based on a true story, you see. A true story in which the humble insult – whether it be spoken or written – is wielded as a devastating weapon.

An amusing comedy of (bad) manners, Wicked Little Letters opens in the quaint little British seaside town of Littlehampton in the early 1920s.

For some time, someone has been giving poor Edith Swan (Colman) a tremendous trolling through the local post.

Why anyone would send this pious homebody who still lives with her parents (Timothy Spall and Gemma Jones) such filthy correspondence is not immediately clear.

Nevertheless, after Miss Swan’s letterbox receives a 19th naughty envelope, a suspect is conveniently identified, and an arrest is made.

Olivia Colman as poor Edith Swan.

Edith’s near-neighbour Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley) certainly profiles as a profane author. She’s Irish, she’s a single mum, she can drink like a fish, fight like a bloke, and cuss like a wharfie.

Oh, and Edith and Rose were almost friends once upon a time. Until there was some kind of falling out. Case closed? Yep, that should just about do it.

Not so if you are local police officer, Constable Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan). Her take on proceedings: Rose just doesn’t seem the type to hide behind a veil of anonymity. There has got to be more to the story, believes Gladys.

Sure enough, the lewd letters just keep on coming. Only now, people all over the village are receiving them.

The rest of Wicked Little Letters fudges around with a modestly challenging mystery that the likes of a Hercule Poirot could solve inside 60 seconds.

However, the lively language in play – particularly when Colman and Buckley share the screen – and some shrewdly relevant commentary about the cowardice of not putting your own name to your opinions makes this quite a spicily satisfactory affair.

Wicked Little Letters screens in special previews in selected cinemas through Sunday (check local guides for session times). Opens in general release next week.

IMAGINARY (M)

Rating: **

General release

Pyper Braun as Alice in Imaginary. Picture: Parrish Lewis

For a little kid, Alice (Pyper Braun) has some big problems. Her dad cares more about his wonky career as a rock musician than he does about his own children. Alice’s new-ish stepmom Jessica (DeWanda Wise) has moved everybody to a property with a slightly sinister history. And just to cap it all off, the basement of Alice’s new home is also the long-term address of an evil teddy bear named Chauncey. How evil? Well, this instantly forgettable horror film dictates we are just going to have to take young Alice’s word for it. Chauncey is her imaginary best friend, and all the sneaky suggestions and devilish demands he is supposedly making can only be reported by Alice herself.

Though there are many low-impact scares to be found in Imaginary, too few pack the kind of aftershock needed to truly creep out a seasoned horror fan. While the diminutive Braun does a fine job reacting (and, just as importantly, sometimes not reacting) to the freaky events around her, the adults in the cast are left looking sillier by the minute. To make a relevant comparison, this moderate affair is roughly in the same league as Night Swim, the recent ropey thriller where the villain was a demonically possessed pool.

RICKY STANICKY (MA15+)

Rating: **1/2

Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video

John Cena in Ricky Stanicky, streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

This week’s other movie about the multiple dangers that come with having an imaginary best friend is a cheeky, blokey and unapologetically dirty-minded comedy that feels as if it has time-travelled from the late 1990s for your viewing pleasure. There are just enough big laughs to be had if you can forgive the number of un-PC jokes that land with a dull thud.

Zac Efron in Ricky Stanicky.

Most of the plaudits for the salacious stuff that does work must go to John Cena (last seen doing that scene-stealing birthday-suit bit at this week’s Oscars). He plays a desperate actor hired by a trio of just-as-desperate best friends (led by Zac Efron) to play the role of someone who does not exist. The friends created Ricky Stanicky as a fake buddy whose name has got them out of all kinds of scrapes over the years. Now they need to prove Ricky is real. Otherwise wives, families and jobs will disappear forever. Cena has a goofy knack of selling gags that really shouldn’t be bought, which saves this so-so movie time and time again.

Originally published as ‘Lively language’: Why two of the best modern actresses use some of history’s worst words