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Directed by: Harold Ramis Starring: Al Franken, Vincent D'Onofrio Perhaps the most overlooked and underappriciated SNL spinoff, this movie can be described in one word. Risky. It's risky to make a movie based on only a moderately memorable SNL character, played by a cast member whom most people couldn't name offhand. And given that SNL movies have a tradition of appealing to the more base levels of comedy (which isn't a bad thing by any means), and being essentially 90 minute long sketches, it is a risk to make an SNL movie based much more on intellectual comedy. And in my opinion, the risk paid off big time. The movie is about Stuart Smalley, an effeminate, emotionally unstable, self help guru. As he is quick to point out, he is a member of several 12 step programs, but NOT a liscenced therapist. This shines through in the sea of new age touchy feely garble he uses to respond to the problems of his guests. This movie doesn't follow very predictable formula that most movies like this would follow (He's doing his show, it get huge, he becomes very famous, problems arise, he almost loses the show and a love interest picked up along the way, and with the help of wacky new friends, manages to save the day). Instead of yanking a story out of the comedy cookie cutter this movie opted to explore how the character ended up so unstable, by examining the laundry list of problems with his family. It's pretty common for modern dramas to have a decent amount of comedy thrown in. It makes audiences comfortable, helps us care about characters, and can break up streatches of tedium. But it is usually awkward, forced, and painful to watch a comedy attempt to inject moments of serious drama. Trying to add interesting or well written drama to a comedy is usually like putting gourmet barbecue sauce on chocolate cake. But this movie manages to pull it off, and pull it off well. I don't really want to give away much of the storyline, especially when the title already gives away the ending. It's well worth seeing, and is especially cathartic if you didn't have the happiest of childhoods, or have a difficult relationship with family members. It's extremely easy to find things in this movie to compare with your own family, and if not, at least you get some really decent laughs. But my final advice would be to try to forget most of what you remember about the Stuart Smalley sketches before seeing this movie. Same characters, but a different approach to comedy. RATING: 4.5 PROS: Instead of being a drama with bits of good comedy, it's a comedy with bits of great drama, which is rare CONS: It can be difficult at times to identify with the main character, who was origionally created to be obnoxious ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114571/
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Jun 1, 2004 17:42
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 04:13 |
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