Eat the Rich | |
---|---|
Directed by | Peter Richardson |
Produced by | Tim Van Rellim |
Written by |
Peter Richardson Pete Richens |
Starring |
Nosher Powell Ronald Allen Nigel Planer Miranda Richardson |
Production
company |
|
Distributed by |
CBS/Fox Video Ltd. (UK) New Line Cinema (US) |
Release date
|
October 1987 (UK TV premiere) |
Running time
|
90 min. |
Language | English |
Eat the Rich is a 1987 British black comedy film, directed by Peter Richardson. It was a co-production between Channel Four Films, Iron Fist Motion Pictures and Michael White Productions. It features cast members from the popular television series The Comic Strip Presents....
The film stars Al Pillay, and Nosher Powell as the home secretary, and includes cameos from a number of well-known figures, including: Miranda Richardson and Nigel Planer as vile DHSS clerks, Robbie Coltrane, Rik Mayall as a union boss, Paul McCartney, Shane MacGowan, Jennifer Saunders, Jimmy Fagg, Kathy Burke, Koo Stark, Dawn French, Bill Wyman, Jools Holland, Hugh Cornwell, Adrian Edmondson, Angela Bowie, and Lemmy.
The film begins in a high-class London restaurant named 'Bastards', staffed by the protagonist, waiter Alex (Alan Pellay). Alex is subject to the daily contempt and disgust of the upper-class customers, and is eventually fired for being obnoxious and rude to the clientele. After witnessing an act of terrorism on an embassy, he robs a benefits office and goes on the run with his new friend. Meanwhile, Nosher Powell plays the Home Secretary, a menacing, beer-swilling, fornicating, lovable lout who has his own no-nonsense way of dealing with trouble, usually with his fists. He's the darling of the voters, the press and the gorgeous Fiona (Fiona Richmond), a glamorous KGB agent. He was also the one who ended the terrorist situation that Alex witnessed earlier in the movie. However, Nosher has enemies, including the sinister Commander Fortune (Ronald Allen), who plots a people's revolution with a difference, and General Karprov (Dave Beard) and Spider (Ian Kilmister), who plot to derail the Home Secretary's campaign of becoming Prime Minister.