The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Many of us remember Spike Milligan as an eccentric, grandfather-like, universally loved old man; as the comic hero of our fathers' generation, the manic author of the Goon Show; and the precursor of more modern comedy such as Monty Python. We may also be aware that the dark side of his humour (his gravestone famously reads 'I told you I was ill!') had some basis in reality. This outstanding film manages, surprisingly for a man who spent much of his life on national television, to assemble a combination of private and public material that gives a thoughtful and revealing portrait of a sensitive but wild individual, a manic depressive, alternately a brilliant and an awful father, in a way that makes him appear very much a human being not just a performer. It's interesting both for what it tells us about Spike, but also for how we might choose to see a public figure from a certain perspective and ignore much which is hidden in plain sight. Overall, I found this an unexpectedly moving and revealing program; and although it's about more than just Spike's comedy, there are moments in the clips that will remind you of his talent and force you to laugh.