Although the C4 comedy Black Books could best described as a cult hit (i.e. it had a small number of hardened, devoted viewers), Bill Bailey and Tamsin Grieg have gone on to carve out impressive careers for themselves, one way or another. The same can't really be said for its third star Dylan Moran.

Since 2004, when Black Books finished, Irish comedian Moran has ignored the trappings of TV and has only made appearances in one or two films. This Irish film, which was released in 2008, actually sees him do more work than most of his other film jobs, as he co-stars with Mark Doherty, who also wrote it.

Coming up with an original idea is never easy as jobbing actor Mark (Doherty) and jobless screenwriter Pierce (Moran) can truly testify to. The pair are keen to develop a project that would suit both of them; Mark, for instance, is especially keen for his character to play the clarinet, as it's an instrument he can actually play.

But life has a way of getting in the way of creativity. Mark not only has to look after his disabled brother David (played by real life brother comedian David O'Doherty), but is struggling to keep his girlfriend Sally (Amy Huberman) happy, as the flat that they all live in is falling apart around them.

He doesn't help his cause however, when the money he was given to pay the rent to their landlord Jack (Keith Allen), he ends up using for other things instead.

So with them all living in a veritable death trap and emotions running high all round, something has to give. When it finally does, the pair suddenly find their creative juices stretched to the max, as Mark's home life most definitely takes more than one turn for the worse.

Art does imitate life. I feel like i'm digging a grave for my own career here. God I need a drink.

The first thing that is glaringly obvious is that Moran plays a character that he's pretty much played all his life. Anyone familiar with his role in Black books, his comic stage persona, or anything else he may have appeared in, will instantly recognise him. That's not to say he's not very good, but he's clearly not one for stretching himself as an actor/performer.

Doherty's script gets the just the right amount of blackness in this black comedy right, unfortunately he misses out on the comedy front. This is the biggest shock when you consider not only Moran's involvement, but the writer's own brother David too. It's a shame as the laughs are just dying to get out of the macabre situations created, but are oddly muted.

It also loses its way in trying to subscribe to the notion that life imitates art in the film. The fact that both leads are struggling artists just feels too crow-barred in for the sake of it. Perhaps if they were simply two regular Irish Joes (if there is such a thing), the comedy might have flowed more easily.

Director Ian Fitzgibbon (who would go on to direct the recent Perrier's Bounty) does well in not overplaying his set pieces, but desperately struggles in wringing out any humour from them.

On this evidence, it's no surprise that Moran has struggled to reach the next level, like so many of his contemporaries have; his boozed up Irish shtick struggles to be anything other than a wonky, one trick pony. Even die-hard fans may now begin to find the whole persona somewhat on the stale side.

This film certainly had the potential to be a little corker, and despite a ludicrous story, it manages to entertain right up to the end. If only someone had remembered to put some laughs in; if they had, it certainly would have been a film, like its title suggests, that its cast would have boasted about appearing in.