Mindhorn is a really, really, really, really mixed bag. Three big names are attached to this strange, serio-comic, satire, parody of a movie - namely, Ridley Scott as an executive producer along with Steve Coogan who also co-starred in the movie along with Kenneth Branagh with an uncredited role. This what IMDb describes as a comedy is so bad or good that it really isn't that funny (unless one is high). It's almost a good bad soap opera like the "deliberate" bad acting on Soapdish (1991) except the acting in Mindhorn is supposed to the real funny live performances that actually appear bad. Most of how the film was shot makes the comical scenes not humorous at all even though the audience understands they're is supposed to be funny. Even the black comedy elements (which in one instance supposedly is fake if one looks at the ending credit montage) makes this film a strange fusion of weird comedy along with some glimmer of serious hopeful adult tenderness. A much more consistently and traditional parody of a comedy in contrast is Tim Allen in Galaxy Quest (1999). It's possible that this is the first comedy with its many, many intended funny elements which none of them elicited one real laugh which is a remarkable feat in itself.
