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'Tristram Shandy': Dry wit sustains thin premise

If you never read Laurence Sterne's 18th-century novel Tristram Shandy, do not despair.

First of all, few have made their way through the difficult, rambling tome and, more importantly, there is little evidence that screenwriter Martin Hardy took more than a cursory glance in its direction. Instead, he and director Michael Winterbottom have concocted a puckish romp about a British movie crew's doomed stab at filming this unfilmable book, turning it into — as the subtitle puts it — A Cock and Bull Story.

Picturehouse 'Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story' B The verdict: A sly satire of filmmaking, as a British crew tries to film an unfilmable novel. 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

The fun begins in the makeup room, where British actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon play a game of oneupsmanship, obsessing over their billing and the whiteness of their teeth. Vanity, thy name is actor. Coogan (who was stuck in Jackie Chan's forgettable Around the World in 80 Days) plays himself as well as Tristram and his father. Brydon doubles as himself and Tristram's Uncle Toby, preoccupied with building a model of the battlefield where he was once wounded.

On set, Coogan bounces back and forth between his visiting wife (Kelly Macdonald) and an amorous production assistant (Naomie Harris) who has actually read Tristram Shandy and is smarter than anyone else in the film-within-the-film's hierarchy. Brydon becomes unnerved by the news that The X-Files' Gillian Anderson has been cast in the movie and he will have to play opposite the actress on whom he has an enormous crush.

So it goes in a pleasant, drily British way. It is nothing that has not been covered in other backlot comedies, but the impossibility of the collective cinematic task keeps the joke going longer than you might think. The fun does flag eventually, but do not miss Coogan and Brydon's final shtick over the credits — dueling Al Pacino impersonations.