This movie is one of my old favorite movies, but I've never bothered to rate it before. It is one of the few movies I've ever watched all the way through back to back. It is truly hilarious. But let me see if I can convince you to pick it up. I'll begin with wit.
I gave the movie overall a 9.5. On this count, it is near flawless. It is packed from beginning to end with jokes. Great little stories and impeccable one-liners. The only negatives come from this exact thing. Occasionally there is just noticeably one too many jokes in a scene and it creates something awkward and slows the natural progression of the movie. This is always the danger of stories that are punched up again and again, but I think this film more often errs on the side of witty than over-stuffed. I took off about a third of a point for that and the rest of the lost .5 is from occasionally awkward moments of acting from otherwise impressive performances by Billy Crystal and Debra Winger.
Comedically, this one works for me in large part due to the fact that its comedy continues to build on itself. Most jokes either call back to a previous moments or are called back later. I can't say many of the one-liners stand out on their own. There is something about joke placement, especially in the mouth of a character that makes it work.
I gave the movie overall a 9.5. On this count, it is near flawless. It is packed from beginning to end with jokes. Great little stories and impeccable one-liners. The only negatives come from this exact thing. Occasionally there is just noticeably one too many jokes in a scene and it creates something awkward and slows the natural progression of the movie. This is always the danger of stories that are punched up again and again, but I think this film more often errs on the side of witty than over-stuffed. I took off about a third of a point for that and the rest of the lost .5 is from occasionally awkward moments of acting from otherwise impressive performances by Billy Crystal and Debra Winger.
Comedically, this one works for me in large part due to the fact that its comedy continues to build on itself. Most jokes either call back to a previous moments or are called back later. I can't say many of the one-liners stand out on their own. There is something about joke placement, especially in the mouth of a character that makes it work.
The performances, as I mentioned, are the key to the film. Billy and Debra fill a good part of the film and have the highest moments of comedy and drama, both of which they perform admirably, surprisingly better at the drama than the comedy. Only the comedic lines ever ring false. But the whole film is their love story as told by their best friends to the new female addition to the group. She's played by Cynthia Stevenson, whose character is engaged to Joe Mantegna's. Around them form a whole group of close friends being waited on unforgettably by Robert Costanzo. Robert and Cynthia are the real standouts. She has some of the most memorable moments in the film and her character has an extremely visceral reaction, from profuse weeping to psychotic shouting, to the story of Mickey and Ellen, Billy and Debra's characters. Robert plays a witty, dry, and pushy waiter who makes me feel at home and yet is somehow exotic.
Wisdom is probably the highlight of the movie. What this film has to teach is not uniquely, but classic and rarely presented so well. The -.25 is for a general lack of understanding of sex, that which is "common to men." A brief perusal of our world's sexual ethics leaves me feeling overwhelmingly dirty, not least because of the aspects of it which have subconsciously become a part of me, but I feel is acceptable to set that aside with a nominal knockoff because it is so common and because the extent to which this film is even off is minute. I cannot believe that fornication on a whim has no consequences that would better be avoided, but the film contains just one instance, that then leads to a long and more or less healthy relationship. I know that pornography and auto-eroticism is dangerous to the health of one's sexual understanding, but the film doesn't harp on it. It simply acknowledges that these characters, like all too many people in the world are affected by them. So that aside, let's judge their judgment.
This film has a great deal of insight about interpersonal relationship, not extraordinary, but of the type that we all, I think, need to hear from time to time(de temps en temps). This reaches far beyond duprasses (an alternate code-word for romantic/sexual relationships, mostly better because it has less baggage). I'd like to relate some examples. There's a scene, early in the film, when the two future lovers meet. Mickey(Billy) begins to rant at Ellen(Debra), who is a customer service rep at an airline. Here it is:
Ellen: How are you feeling today?
Mickey: How am I today? I am a mass of good will.
E: On behalf of the airline, l apologize for any problem--
M: Problem? There's no problem. You lost my father. My rear end's molded to a plastic chair and I’ve got gas from eating those almonds. I’m so happy I’m a walking Mardi Gras.
E: That's funny. You have a delightfully sharp way of expressing yourself. A terrible thing has been done to you and we really are sorry. You've every right to insult, belittle and abuse the staff who have tried to help you. In fact, we thank you. And we voted you Traveler of the Month, so congratulations."
This scene is both funny and expresses the simple, but ultimately hard-to-hold-onto notion that, because all the annoying failures and exasperating mistakes that can make our lives miserable are inevitably caused by human error, the same kind that we occasionally make and hate when other point them out and apologize profusely for, our current level of frustration is often understandable but rarely justified.
Another great moment, though admittedly not ingeniously portrayed is when Mickey gets the sudden urge to go to a museum when he's on the road reffing games, because that's what he and Ellen did. The lesson we can see is that great people stretch you. The best kind of friends, lovers, and even family are the ones who force you to confront your assumptions about what is worthwhile. A guy whose only ever listened to genres of music descended from punk rock is done a great service by falling in love with a girl who listens to classical and a man who only eats meat and potatoes is blessed in meeting an intelligent, interesting vegan, because it drives him out of his comfortable place and into a moment of discovery. When we face new things, we can find out how limited the life we've lived is. Of course, the movie shows us our tendency, if we're not careful, to fall back to old patterns and lose all our progress.
But this film gives a more complete picture of what it means to love someone, including but not limited to the pettiness of lovers. One of the best scenes for this is when Mickey and Ellen are out with friends on a double date and begin arguing about whether or not the car would fit into a parking space. Mickey calls back to his disapproval of The Phantom of the Opera, having suggested that it was unrealistic romantic fodder for women and that the main theme is just the song "School Days." He thus tells Ellen, "Maybe the Phantom could have gotten into that spot, covering half of his face like the Phantom's mask, and then begins singing "School Days" in an exquisite moment of passive-aggression. These moments reveal further the awful truth that it's the people closest to us that we are most capable of being cruel and petty towards.
Wisdom is probably the highlight of the movie. What this film has to teach is not uniquely, but classic and rarely presented so well. The -.25 is for a general lack of understanding of sex, that which is "common to men." A brief perusal of our world's sexual ethics leaves me feeling overwhelmingly dirty, not least because of the aspects of it which have subconsciously become a part of me, but I feel is acceptable to set that aside with a nominal knockoff because it is so common and because the extent to which this film is even off is minute. I cannot believe that fornication on a whim has no consequences that would better be avoided, but the film contains just one instance, that then leads to a long and more or less healthy relationship. I know that pornography and auto-eroticism is dangerous to the health of one's sexual understanding, but the film doesn't harp on it. It simply acknowledges that these characters, like all too many people in the world are affected by them. So that aside, let's judge their judgment.
This film has a great deal of insight about interpersonal relationship, not extraordinary, but of the type that we all, I think, need to hear from time to time(de temps en temps). This reaches far beyond duprasses (an alternate code-word for romantic/sexual relationships, mostly better because it has less baggage). I'd like to relate some examples. There's a scene, early in the film, when the two future lovers meet. Mickey(Billy) begins to rant at Ellen(Debra), who is a customer service rep at an airline. Here it is:
Ellen: How are you feeling today?
Mickey: How am I today? I am a mass of good will.
E: On behalf of the airline, l apologize for any problem--
M: Problem? There's no problem. You lost my father. My rear end's molded to a plastic chair and I’ve got gas from eating those almonds. I’m so happy I’m a walking Mardi Gras.
E: That's funny. You have a delightfully sharp way of expressing yourself. A terrible thing has been done to you and we really are sorry. You've every right to insult, belittle and abuse the staff who have tried to help you. In fact, we thank you. And we voted you Traveler of the Month, so congratulations."
This scene is both funny and expresses the simple, but ultimately hard-to-hold-onto notion that, because all the annoying failures and exasperating mistakes that can make our lives miserable are inevitably caused by human error, the same kind that we occasionally make and hate when other point them out and apologize profusely for, our current level of frustration is often understandable but rarely justified.
Another great moment, though admittedly not ingeniously portrayed is when Mickey gets the sudden urge to go to a museum when he's on the road reffing games, because that's what he and Ellen did. The lesson we can see is that great people stretch you. The best kind of friends, lovers, and even family are the ones who force you to confront your assumptions about what is worthwhile. A guy whose only ever listened to genres of music descended from punk rock is done a great service by falling in love with a girl who listens to classical and a man who only eats meat and potatoes is blessed in meeting an intelligent, interesting vegan, because it drives him out of his comfortable place and into a moment of discovery. When we face new things, we can find out how limited the life we've lived is. Of course, the movie shows us our tendency, if we're not careful, to fall back to old patterns and lose all our progress.
But this film gives a more complete picture of what it means to love someone, including but not limited to the pettiness of lovers. One of the best scenes for this is when Mickey and Ellen are out with friends on a double date and begin arguing about whether or not the car would fit into a parking space. Mickey calls back to his disapproval of The Phantom of the Opera, having suggested that it was unrealistic romantic fodder for women and that the main theme is just the song "School Days." He thus tells Ellen, "Maybe the Phantom could have gotten into that spot, covering half of his face like the Phantom's mask, and then begins singing "School Days" in an exquisite moment of passive-aggression. These moments reveal further the awful truth that it's the people closest to us that we are most capable of being cruel and petty towards.
The film's greatest lack may be in wonder. One big knock-off then I'll talk about what they did right. The biggest problem with this movie is editing. My instinct is to lay this fault at the feet of the director, Billy Crystal, who directed just one other feature, and that three years before this one. This movie could have been shortened, not greatly, but a couple of scenes and montages were just a bit too long and some of the jokes probably looked good on paper, but should have been lost on the editing room floor.
Two items really sealed a high rating for this one. First we have the music, a mixed of composition for the film, which uses motifs and themes to create a real sense of continuity throughout the movie, and older mostly jazzy tunes that convey a sense of romance and nostalgia.
The second item is the multitude of cameos by major NBA stars from the period. I'll just list some of the all-star talents: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Isiah Thomas, David Robinson, Spud Webb, Patrick Ewing, Tim Hardaway, Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, and the most impressive one, in terms of his performance, is Sir Charles Barkley. Overall, the sense of reality and the height of the comedy are greatly improved by this tidbit.
Hopefully I've convinced someone out there to indulge themselves in this beautiful film. It remains one of the funnier films I've ever seen and very dear to my sappy, romantic heart. Enjoy!
The second item is the multitude of cameos by major NBA stars from the period. I'll just list some of the all-star talents: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Isiah Thomas, David Robinson, Spud Webb, Patrick Ewing, Tim Hardaway, Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, and the most impressive one, in terms of his performance, is Sir Charles Barkley. Overall, the sense of reality and the height of the comedy are greatly improved by this tidbit.
Hopefully I've convinced someone out there to indulge themselves in this beautiful film. It remains one of the funnier films I've ever seen and very dear to my sappy, romantic heart. Enjoy!
