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'Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story' is a strange marvel

Laurence Sterne's "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman," is one of those novels that rarely circulate beyond universities — and certainly doesn't attract many readers in Hollywood, where its formal experiments and strange humor earned it that most dreaded Tinseltown insult: "unfilmable."

Picturehouse 'Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story' 4 out of 5 stars The verdict: The "unfilmable" novel turns into an unconventionally entertaining film. Director: Michael Winterbottom Starring: Jeremy Northam, James Fleet, Robert Brydon, Dylan Moran, Keeley Hawes Run time: 94 minutes Release date: Jan. 27, 2006 Rating: R for language and sexual content. See showtimes Behind the scenes Austin American-Statesman film writer Chris Garcia interviews director Michael Winterbottom about his wide-ranging movies, including an upcoming ghost story. On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Enter genre-hopping English filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, who approaches the book employing the same giddy disdain for convention with which the book depicts its subject. ("It was postmodern before there was any 'modern' to be 'post' about," one character quips.) He sets out not to tell the book's story, but to bounce around and riff on it; think "Adaptation" meets "8 1/2" or "Day for Night" with a dash of Winterbottom's "24 Hour Party People."

The star of that last film, the hilariously self-absorbed Steve Coogan, plays the title character here. Or rather, he plays Steve Coogan on the set of a movie about Shandy Ñ a movie in which he's never actually going to get around to playing Shandy himself, but will portray his father in flashbacks that careen out of control as if the film-within-a-film were being improvised as it went along by an author who couldn't decide how much back story was enough.

Yes, that spells a pretty convoluted tale for any viewer foolish enough to expect beginnings, middles and ends. Fortunately, the assorted bits and pieces here are entertaining on their own terms; they even add up to a point Sterne might have approved of, that a man's life is no less compelling simply because it can't be constrained by art to fit an expected shape.

The heart of the film is the backstage part, where cast and crew bumble around trying to make a film that is under-financed and not wholly understood by its makers. (Everyone has been well-coached about the novel's legendary status, but have they actually read it?) Affairs, egos and power plays abound, the most entertaining of which is the rivalry between Coogan and Rob Brydon, who sees his role as a "co-lead" despite the fact that the book is named after Coogan's character. The two actors snipe ceaselessly, undercutting each other while pretending to be playful. Coogan comes off as the creep in the pair, naturally, and Brydon the unsung hero. A scene in which the men do competing Al Pacino impressions deserves to become a cult classic among acting students.

Winterbottom could have relaxed and let this sort of thing carry the film, but he adds layer upon layer of formal invention and narrative intrigue, occasionally even allowing a shard of pathos slip into the comedy. The book might be unfilmable, but it inspired a wonderfully peculiar movie nevertheless.