This British satirical comedy may be a bit of a mess, but since it's based on a Stephen Fry novel, the snappy wit in the dialogue zings with his specific brand of intelligent humour.
Brought to the silver screen by director John Jencks, the flavour and indelible, idiosyncratic tone of the author is imbued in this faithful adaptation.
A towering, at times monumentally good central performance from the character actor Roger Allam stands at the heart of The Hippopotamus, but it is entirely alone.
Despite a wonderfully witty voiceover and the bullish playing of a willing ensemble, this bawdy romp consistently stumbles over its more contrived excesses.