His best work displays this distinctive blend of profound insight and slightly ironic distance.

Really brave film-makers seek to involve audiences in a tale well told, not fall back on the excuse of ironic distance.

The defence, no doubt, will point to ironic distance and the moral relativity of a cartoon-like milieu.

Yet the film has the same mix of ironic distance and affection for its subjects.

The ironic tone increases in severity as the novel progresses, especially in terms of the ironic distance between the narrator and protagonist.