The Search for Simon

British actor-director Martin Gooch made and stars in this broad comedy about a middle-aged loser named David Jones, who has eschewed mature adulthood for a childlike quest to find Simon, a younger brother allegedly kidnapped by aliens when the boys were young. Jobless and living on lottery winnings, the gullible David spends thousands on pointless trips to UFO hotspots and purchasing extraterrestrial “artifacts” from international hucksters. Meanwhile, David is reviled by mainstream nerds in the role-playing game community and is being exploited by a therapist who wants to write about him for her next book. David's one friend, the tormented Bob (Simon Birks), and a would-be girlfriend (Sophie Aldred), are exasperated, while his alcoholic mother (Carol Cleveland, beloved presence in many Monty Python sketches) is simply waiting for her son to accept the real truth about Simon. A fast-paced film that plays like an extended sketch, The Search for Simon is good, silly fun. Recommended. (T. Keogh)