My Life in Film (2004)

After failing his driving test for the fifth time, Art signs up for a five-day crash course at the best of the best motor school - they're the best! The training is intense. And so are the rivalries. Everybody wants to be the best of the best. Especially Johnson: this ice-cold learner driver takes an instant dislike to Art. Meanwhile, Art takes an instant like to his beautiful instructor. And as she teaches him to parallel park, they begin to fall in love. For once, it really looks as if Art might pass, until a minor road accident rocks his confidence. Will his new-found love chase away his inner demons in time to take the test?

A keen observer of human nature, Art watches happily from his bedroom window as the beautiful girl in the flat opposite argues with her lover. But when she disappears and he works late into the night with a circular saw, Art comes to the only logical conclusion. It has to be murder. He wanted the relationship to end, but not like this. Jones wants to call the police, but first they need evidence. And there's only one place to look. Under the watchful eye of Jones, Art breaks into the flat opposite, only to return as clue-less as before. They resort to plan B and try to lure the killer out into the open. It works better than expected: they manage to lure him around to their flat...

The last time Art babysat his nephew, young Danny was left traumatized, having been chased into the attic by his axe-wielding Uncle. The parents still haven't forgotten the incident, although Art maintains it was an accident. And so it is with no little trepidation that Art is asked to babysit again. Surely, it can't happen twice, can it?

Friction between Art and Beth intensifies as she comes to stay for the week. It preoccupies Jones so much that he forgets to feed the neighbour's goldfish - with tragic results. In the aftermath, Art discovers an insignificant sum of money down the back of the neighbour's sofa. The trio agree honesty is the best policy and agree to leave the money where they found it, but an atmosphere of deceit and betrayal soon descends on the household. Alliances, allegiances and allergies reach breaking point when the money goes missing. Suspicions multiply and tempers fray as guilt and greed propel the story to its bloody conclusion. And when the merry-go-round of treachery finally comes to a stop, who will come out on top?

Art finally gets the chance to prove himself as an undiscovered, talented, independent, low-budget filmmaker when he is asked to shoot a wedding video. An initial flurry of ambitious, original ideas soon gives way to a mammoth existential crisis which grips Art by the throat and refuses to let go. Fear of the blank page keeps him awake at night. Thoroughly blocked, he sinks into a dark malaise. In search of inspiration, Art embarks on a filmmaker's odyssey through a sea of dream, memory, fantasy and beautiful women. Pressure mounts as time begins to run out. But it is in the depths of his despair that he finds a ray of hope in the most unlikely of sources.

Under pressure from the landlord to come up with the rent money, Art resorts to increasingly desperate measures to raise the cash. An attempt to defraud the bank incurs the wrath of a super-posse of postmen, forcing Art and Jones to run for the hills on their bicycles. When the landlord also gives chase, the dynamic duo seek refuge in the cinema. With nowhere left to hide, Art tries to persuade Jones to start a new life together on the Isle of Man. Legend has it the Film Commission over there just gives money away to independent, low-budget filmmakers. Jones is tempted, but refuses to leave Beth behind, so they take her with them. However, all they find on the Isle of Man is disappointment. They have no choice but to return to their old ways. Will they find the rent money before the landlord finds them?