Television Reviews : ‘East of Ipswich’: A Coming-of-Age Comedy

“You can’t spend the entire summer holiday avoiding all activity,” British teen-ager Richard Burrill’s mother tells him as they sit on a gray beach in cloudy Suffolk. However mopey he may seem, young Burrill (Edward Rawle-Hicks) doesn’t want to avoid all activity. It’s just that he’d rather be meeting girls than lying about on the cold sand and visiting churches with his sweet but stolid parents.

Before long, he gets his chance in Michael Palin’s “East of Ipswich,” a mild but consistently enjoyable coming-of-age comedy that aired on the BBC in 1986 and comes to the Arts & Entertainment cable channel tonight at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.

“Ipswich” doesn’t offer much that’s new in terms of genre plot--along comes a bolder boy to goad our hero into action and a pretty girl for them to compete over, plus the usual portions of comically awkward incidents and bittersweet resolutions. However, the 90-minute film’s understated quality and reticent protagonist (Richard’s almost as dull as mom and dad, at least for the first half-hour of back-seat sulking) is a nice change-of-view from American teen-sex comedies.

“Ipswich” has a surprisingly subdued script for a Monty Python member who’s been known to stuff cats down his pants to get a laugh. Palin and director Tristram Powell have etched a subtle and honeyed approach to the subject.

“Ipswich” may be too subtle for many Python fans and people who actually like all the slam-bang unrealism of those U.S. laugh riots on the subject, but others will find much to like about--and some telling truths in--this quiet little cucumber sandwich of a film.