Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose (2023)

Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose (2023) is a pleasant little film starring Simon Pegg and Minnie Driver, based on a true story about a talking mongoose that became the star of a remote village on the Isle of Man in the 1930s.

Pegg plays Doctor Nandor Fodor, a parapsychologist who seems to be reaching a bit of a stall in his career when he is contacted by a rival parapsychologist, Dr. Harry Price (played by Christopher Lloyd) about a curious case of an apparently sentient and fully verbal mongoose residing in and around the home of the otherwise average Irvings. The mongoose, named Gef, seems to appear and disappear at whim and is only ever glimpsed in shadow; however, Gef has a lot to say to the residents of Dalby, often seeming to know secret things about them or to tell the future. Minnie Driver plays Anne, Fodor’s assistant, who follows him to Dalby to unravel the mystery surrounding Gef and the Irving family. Along the way, they encounter more eccentric inhabitants who claim to have had their lives altered by the enigmatic Gef, challenging their beliefs in a rational explanation for the mongoose’s abilities.

The first scene that Anne appears in is a great example of Minnie Driver’s subtle comedic skills.

I won’t give away much else about the plot because it’s not really what’s interesting about the film itself. What did draw me in was Pegg’s performance, in a role that was a bit more of a subdued stretch than his usual comedic roles. Driver was, as always, easy to watch as the long-suffering assistant who is probably nursing more than a little unrequited crush on her boss, but who also is able to stand up to him and demand his respect. Gef, voiced by Neil Gaiman, is eye-rollingly quirky (much like Gaiman himself), but that seems to be the point. The reality is that a mongoose couldn’t possibly talk, let along prognosticate, and the skepticism of Fodor and Anne creates just enough frustrating tension to hold interest in an otherwise pretty thinly plotted little movie.

Anne makes a connection with Maurice, the innkeeper and a recent widower who claims to have had his life changed by Gef.

The costumes were designed by Lance Milligan and are competently done. There’s not a whole lot to really say about them because the clothes are more utilitarian than stylish, suitable for traipsing around the Manx countryside trying to flush Gef out of his various hidey holes to get to the bottom of the mystery. But they’re appropriate for 1937, which the film claims is the year in which it is set.