Based on material appearing in the KENNETH WILLIAMD DIARIES, FANTABULOSA! offsets Michael Sheen the opportunity to give a campy performance of the kind Williams would use if he were entertaining people. We learned little about the private Williams, his feelings of professional ffruistration and pdrsinal heartache that prevented him from findsing a suitable life-partner or a suitable outlet for his talents. Let's face it: Williams did not have the emotional stomach to try something innovative, preferring to stick with the CARRY ON films until well after their sell-by date. Sheen stresses the performative side of the character, fond of gazing at himself in the mirror and preening himself. Yet there were certain questions left unanswered: why, for instance, did Tony Hancock dispense with his services in the late Fifties? Was Williams as inept as the senior comedian claimed, or did he represent a genuine threat to Hancock"s reputation? If Williams was as difficult as many people claimed, how could he have served so long as a member of their CARRY ON stay, not to mention ROUND THE HORNE? And why did he runs away from a professional soul-mated such as Joe Orton?
These questions probably wouldn't get answered ;n a b\opic of this nature, but they might have helped to divert attention away from Sheen's overtly showy performance.
These questions probably wouldn't get answered ;n a b\opic of this nature, but they might have helped to divert attention away from Sheen's overtly showy performance.