Just Jim review

Ambitious, amusing but overloaded directorial debut from actor Craig Roberts.

Just Jim Review

What were you doing when you were 23 years of age? Because some of us were busy pulling pints (and drinking the spillage) - or perhaps just at film school, one day dreaming about being old and wise enough to write and direct our first movie. For actor Craig Roberts - who made a name for himself when taking on the lead in Submarine - it's become a reality, as the now-24-year-old presents his directorial debut, Just Jim.

Hoff the Record is one of Dave's new roster of shows that it will help define it as something more than just a place to catch repeats of ]c]Mock the Week] and Top Gear. Dave has certainly been heavily promoting Hoff the Record even going as far as to rename the channel David for one day in honour of Mr Hasselhoff. The first episode sees Hasselhoff travel to the UK as he's under the impression that he's been asked to star in a biopic of his own life. In fact the director (Craig Roberts) wants to audition Hasselhoff to play an older version of himself. Hoff the Record includes the types of characters you would expect to find in a show such as this including David's incompetent British agent (Fergus Craig) and a well-educated PA (Ella Smith) who has no idea who he is. I do feel that Hasselhoff signed up for the show believing that this could work for him in the same way that Episodes did for Matt Le Blanc. Unfortunately the comedy in Episodes comes from the fact that Matt Le Blanc isn't like the character he portrays on the show and it's the same with Warwick Davies in Life's Too Short. Having seen Hasselhoff as himself, both on chat shows and as a reality TV judge, I don't think the version he portrays on Hoff the Record is that far from his real personality. Whilst the situations themselves have been crafted for comic purposes I don't think Hasselhoff tried hard enough to portray a fictionalised version of himself. Meanwhile there isn't really anybody amongst the supporting cast who really stood out and instead the majority of the characters where quite irritating. This is particularly true of Asim Chaudry's Terry Patel; Hasselhoff's driver who tells his new client several inappropriate stories whilst ferrying him about. The only thing I liked about the first episode was the performance given by Craig Roberts as the pretentious film director but unfortunately it looks like he won't be sticking around. Although I do appreciate that Dave are trying out some original ideas Hoff the Record simply wasn't nearly as funny as it should've been. Most of the blame for this can be laid at the door of Hasselhoff as I don't believe he fully committed to the idea of playing a truly fictionalised version of himself.

Submarine: Eccentric British romcom with original edge

Submarine is another British romcom, and it's both more adventurous and less commercial: a self-consciously quirky rites-of-passage comedy about a pale, gloomy 15-year-old Welsh schoolboy (Craig Roberts) trying to lose his virginity with his comically unromantic girlfriend (Yasmin Paige), who's bad-tempered and suffers from eczema.

Video: Creating the agonising moments of film Submarine

The British film "Submarine" tells the heart warming tale of a young man's first experience of love and has already had rave reviews at this year's Toronto, London and Sundance film festivals.

It is directed by the Perrier award winning comedian Richard Ayoade, known for his roles in shows such as The Mighty Boosh and The IT Crowd, and stars Craig Roberts as 15-year-old Oliver Tate.

They spoke to BBC Breakfast about what it was like to make the film.