Jo Nesbø’s the Norwegian author of Headhunters and Jackpot, hard-boiled crime thrillers, adapted into cracking movies. He’s also author of children’s book Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder, now a movie by Arild Fröhlich, director of the fun, but resolutely un-politically-correct Norwegian black comedy Fatso. With Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder, Fröhlich delights in delivering another fun, but resolutely un-PC charmer in this crude, rude and downright silly tale of Lise and Nilly, two kids in Oslo who befriend batty inventor Doctor Proctor.
A Nordic version of Back to the Future boffin Doc Brown, the eccentric Doc Proc inadvertently concocts a powder that produces loud, but thankfully odour-free, guffs. The kids think it’s great, soon finding ingenious uses for Doctor Proctor’s “prompepulver”, including launching themselves skywards courtesy of rocket-powered farts.
The slight and silly plot involves a villainous rival inventor, his henchmen, and shenanigans to do with NASA. If it reminds you of British movie Thunderpants (the 2002 tale of a young boy with the ability to break wind so powerfully he winds up becoming an astronaut), that’s because it’s in the same cheeky, farts-are-funny, kids humour vein. So, if it’s slight and silly slapstick for the under 12s you’re after, look no further.
It’s all fun, frolics and farts that had my young un’s giggling occasionally. There’s little here for adults though, save Askild Edvardsen’s cinematography, rendering the world a glorious technicolour picture-book feel, with costumes, sets and locations all playfully exaggerated to create a film that’s pure methane-fuelled escapism for ikkle tykes amused by poots, parps and panty-burps.
‘Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder’ Movie Times
