|
|
I'm half way through this, and it's awful. What was Brooks thinking? The silent comics had grown up making slapstick on stage and on film. Laurel and Hardy were both in their thirties with dozens of two reelers each before they were teamed up. Buster Keaton had been doing slapstick since the age of 3.
I can say this because I'm currently in the middle of watching a whole load of silents from L&H, Keaton, Charlie Chase, Harold Lloyd and so on. Those two reelers work because they only have 20 minutes to tell a full story. Scenes are either full on slapstick or 10 seconds long to move the story on. Moreover slapstick is the comedy of pain and embarrassment and to make it work you have to sell that - through overacting if need be.
Brooks completely fails to understand this. About 15 minutes into the film, Dom Deluise has a door slammed on his foot. Although the joke is blatantly set up, at first I didn't even realise that the slam had occurred. Deluise barely reacts. All I can think about is how Oliver Hardy would have sold the same gag - as I've literally just watched him do it several times over. Compare the two. No contest.
Mel Brooks has written a completely normal film and then simply taken all the sound out and replaced it with captions.
The only reason to watch this is for the cameos. Paul Newman, James Caan, Burt Reynolds, Liza Minelli, Marcel Marceau and Anne Bancroft gamely send themselves up. Paul Newman in his racing wheelchair is clearly enjoying himself and gives the best scene of the movie. As for the rest, Marty Feldman acts everyone else off the screen - when he's actually given something to do that is - thanks to his British physical comedy training.
score 1/10
pete-huntley 22 June 2014
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3037851/ |
|
18-3-2021 04:57:07