Is Man Down's Brian the coolest character on TV?
The latest episode of Greg Davies's Channel 4 comedy featured an impassioned speech that puts actor Mike Wozniak up there with the likes of Jack Nicholson, says Paul Jones
From Bill Pullman’s presidential Independence Day call to arms, to Jack Nicholson’s “You can’t handle the truth!” soliloquy from A Few Good Men, there’s nothing like an inspirational onscreen speech to get the blood pumping and the hairs standing on end.
Last Friday’s episode of Greg Davies’s Man Down gave us just such a moment.
The Channel 4 comedy about hapless dolt Dan and his dysfunctional friends may not be exactly groundbreaking but it’s definitely warming up, and Mike Wozniak’s performance as the lone beacon of – if not sanity, then at least a different, more uptight, kind of madness – is one of the reasons.
So for anyone who’s ever tried to dodge responsibility for their financial affairs, here’s Brian’s impassioned plea… (and you can watch it for yourself on 4oD)
[Dan and Brian are in Brian’s car]
Dan: “How is any of this my fault? I didn’t know I wasn’t insured.
[Brian slams on the brakes]
“You always know! You must always know!
[Cut to Dan and Brian standing by the side of the road]
Brian: “You set up a Direct Debit and you monitor it! You get a bank statement and you check it! You put a note in your diary, you cross reference it – you get your bank to send you confirmation which you put in a draw. You check that draw on a monthly basis; you put your monthly statements in a folder in that draw; you check your outgoings to make sure they are consistent. You never presume that your Direct Debit is more important to someone else than it is to you! You protect your earnings, you check your cover – you never, ever, ever get caught out!”
Spine-tingling stuff, I'm sure you'll agree...
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