Snooker Man
Johnny “Snooker Man” Bonnar (Hayles) is employed by the lowest rated lookalike agency in the UK, where he is known as the 17th best impersonator of English snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan. But Johnny has a second love: miniature snooker. And he believes it’s time to show the world that he’s the best snooker player on the planet.
This intriguing feature shot as a mockumentary tells Johnny’s story, following him through his work as an actor and lookalike and then his journey to becoming involved in the miniature snooker championship. He is interviewed throughout, talking about his experiences at work and playing snooker on camera. Other interviewees include actress Maggie (Gregory), who has worked with Johnny on several films and filmmaker Barry Keane (Sheridan), who didn’t want to be part of the documentary so sent a lookalike of himself to be interviewed.
Other characters include Wolfgang (Amalia), a professional miniature snooker player and Johnny’s rival and a Daniel Craig lookalike called Peter Dobson (Christopher Sherwood). There are also clips from films that Johnny has starred in, The Girl With Two Masks and To Kill a Princess, both directed by Casserly.
This film is basically two parts one being an insight into celebrity lookalikes and filmmaking and then it just becomes about snooker. It is quite interesting listening to them all talk about their experiences though especially Sherwood re-enacting famous James Bond movie scenes with Craig.
Speaking of Bond, the Bond inspired title sequence is quite entertaining due to its creativity and the song that accompanies it by Nekane. The brief animation sequences throughout deserve credit too.
This mockumentary relies mainly on funny performances for effect; when it’s about lookalikes and filmmaking it’s at its best though there is one slight negative when it’s about snooker, people who aren’t particularly interested in that cue sport might lose interest.
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