Since the 1996 release of Joel and Ethan Coen’s Fargo, the phrase “based on a true story” carries a certain weight, suggesting a series of preposterous events featuring equally absurd characters. Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose is another entry in this genre where the “talking mongoose” refers to Gef (pronounced Jeff), a magical creature from New Delhi, India that was claimed to reside in a farmhouse owned by the Irving family on the Isle of Man during the early 1930s. Gef became a local phenomenon, drawing substantial media coverage from British tabloids and attracting the attention of so-called experts in the realm of the supernatural. The film follows real-life parapsychologist Dr. Nandor Fodor (Simon Pegg) and his assistant, Anne (Minnie Driver), as they visit the island and attempt to determine whether Gef truly exists and uncover the reason why everyone in the town believes he is real.
Considering Pegg was cast as the primary investigator of the mystery, one may think that the film is a stylized comedy along the lines of Shaun of the Dead (2004) or Paul (2011), but the tone that writer-director Adam Sigal takes in telling Fodor’s story is puzzlingly inconsistent. At times, Sigal is comical while other times his voice is earnest. This even occasionally occurs in the same sequence such as in the opening scene when an interviewer asks Fodor questions about his profession. Sigal derives humor from the journalist’s confusion at Fodor’s explanations while simultaneously trying to say something profound about our perception of reality. This makes it difficult to determine what should be taken away from the film that is not already explicitly stated by its characters. Is the film supposed to be a dark comedy or a sad, heartfelt drama? While the aforementioned film Fargo could make this precarious balance work, Nandor Fodor cannot.
Sigal also runs into the issue of “show, don’t tell.” Entire characters such as Dr. Harry Price (Christopher Lloyd) are present for the sole purpose of delivering exposition. Price does so much heavy lifting at the beginning of the film that the runtime is almost halfway through by the time Fodor and Anne begin their research on the island. Through Price, Sigal spells out Fodor’s entire backstory and motivations for becoming a parapsychologist as a way to add a bit of heart to his overly cynical character. Similarly, with Errol (Gary Beadle), the Irving family’s farmhand, the film tells us exactly how we should feel about Fodor’s behavior during his investigation, particularly his growing obsession with proving to everyone that Gef is not real. It seems as if Sigal doesn’t trust the audience to come up with their own conclusions and feels that he needs to direct them on how they should feel about each scene.
This becomes most frustrating toward the film’s conclusion where Fodor arrives at a few realizations about himself and what drives him. The use of Gef as a metaphor for the fear of death with nothing to promise afterward would have a notable level of emotional resonance if it were not specifically expressed by Fodor himself in a conversation with Price. The film even begins with a quote from the real-life Fodor: “We may say that the fear of death begins at birth.” This obvious connection makes Fodor’s epiphany appear overly sentimental and wholly unearned. In addition, the film’s theme of finding faith and a belief system to feel secure is apt, but because one of the characters directly discloses this to Fodor, its impact is severely dampened.
With a runtime of only 96 minutes, Sigal could have afforded to flesh out his themes more, not by hammering his points home even further but by showing a more gradual character progression for Fodor that suggests his inner thoughts rather than stating them. A film that leaves itself open to interpretation is powerful as it allows its audience to come in with their own influences and experiences and formulate their own opinions. Nandor Fodor would greatly benefit from taking advice from its own story by embracing the uncertainty of its mystery.
Photo courtesy of Saban Films
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