Bob Maconel (Slater) is the perenially put-upon corporate deadhead who has gone beyond idle dreams of putting a stop to his humdrum life.

Carefully counting a slug into his revolver - each one for a particularly loathsome co-worker - he looks up...to find someone has beaten him to it.

Yes, the vengeful paper pusher's moment of glory has been snatched by another disaffected droid...and among the victims is Bob's (unrequited) sweetheart, office siren Vanessa (Cuthbert).

Shocked into action, Bob guns the killer down and finds himself feted as a have-a-go hero by William H Macy's company president and promoted to "vice-president of creative thinking".

His first job is to visit Vanessa in hospital, where a bullet has severed her spine, rendering her a wheelchair-bound tetraplegic with a bad attitude.

Tentatively, the couple build up a relationship with Bob taking on the role of protective carer while Vanessa finds herself falling for the awkward young man.

Playing a bit like Falling Down meets Office Space this is one of those dark comedies that never actually does anything wrong but never really sparks.

Slater's array of nerdish tics begins to grate and - despite a novel premise - there's not real enough going on to maintain interest.

Cuthbert is always watchable - even when she's barrelling around in a wheelchair - but she really has too little to work on.

He was a quiet man. There's nothing much to shout about.

Tim Evans