Flipping back and forth between the 18th Century and the hapless efforts of 21st Century film makers, A Cock and Bull Story is an unorthodox adaptation of the English literary materpiece, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, written by Laurence Sterne.

The story begins with Tristram Shandy (Steve Coogan) narrating his life story as he sees it. Crammed with literary jokes and dark humour, Shandy's warped childhood tales are constantly interrupted by his family and household, inadvertently revealing far more about himself than any conventional autobiography.

At the dramatic moment of Tristram's birth, the 1st Assistant Director calls cut, marking the end of a filming day. We then see Steve Coogan, the other actors and crew through the course of a chaotic evening on set. Steve Coogan's wife arrives with their six month old baby, a journalist is chasing him about a scandelous story, his agent has arrived with a load of Hollywood scripts and the film financiers are threatening to pull the plug.

A clever, post-modern take on the construction of a film, from an intricate, hilariously complex autobiographical novel.