The humor in Prizzi's Honor comes from the everyday humanity of its characters juxtaposed with the fact that the family business entails killing people, so, like in the funeral business, death is discussed (and dealt out) matter-of-factly. The screenplay sparkles throughout, character- driven and organic despite the many plot twists, with a masterful consistency of style. Its point of view is completely amoral, which maybe makes certain 21st century viewers uncomfortable.
Anjelica Huston is a force of nature in the film -- by turns defiant, vulnerable, manipulative, sexual, heartbroken, and innocently delighted. Every moment she's on screen she delivers absolute raw conviction.
The film suffers slightly from the need to condense a novel's worth of material into 2 hours, and maybe certain plot points and motivations could have been a little more developed. For example, Kathleen Turner is strong and believable, but it would have been great to see a little deeper into the darkness and contradictions of her character.
The cast of supporting characters seems to embody facets of John Huston's persona and his dry, macabre sense of humor. William Hickey's performance as the Don is a spectacle unto itself. "Have another cooooookie" LOL. John Randolph (the Jeffrey Tambor of the '80s), Lee Richardson, and Robert Loggia are all flawless.
Fascinating to see Jack Nicholson play completely against type, as a simple-minded and earnest character. He pulls it off brilliantly, although it's a bit puzzling that the Don would entrust him with running the business -- again, probably something that fell through the cracks when adapting the novel.
How weird that none of the online reviews or comments mention the time period. They obviously had a lot of fun with it -- at first it seems to be the 1920s, as Anjelica Huston mentions that as a decorator she does "Art Deco" (a term that I believe was coined well after the actual period in which it was in vogue); then Kathleen Turner tells Jack Nicholson her car is an Excalibur, which is an '80's car made to look like something from the olden days. Later they're driving a Ford van from the '60s. Anjelica at one point goes to meet an informant in full-on Alexis Carrington drag, but most of the sets and costumes are '40s film noir inspired.
Anjelica Huston is a force of nature in the film -- by turns defiant, vulnerable, manipulative, sexual, heartbroken, and innocently delighted. Every moment she's on screen she delivers absolute raw conviction.
The film suffers slightly from the need to condense a novel's worth of material into 2 hours, and maybe certain plot points and motivations could have been a little more developed. For example, Kathleen Turner is strong and believable, but it would have been great to see a little deeper into the darkness and contradictions of her character.
The cast of supporting characters seems to embody facets of John Huston's persona and his dry, macabre sense of humor. William Hickey's performance as the Don is a spectacle unto itself. "Have another cooooookie" LOL. John Randolph (the Jeffrey Tambor of the '80s), Lee Richardson, and Robert Loggia are all flawless.
Fascinating to see Jack Nicholson play completely against type, as a simple-minded and earnest character. He pulls it off brilliantly, although it's a bit puzzling that the Don would entrust him with running the business -- again, probably something that fell through the cracks when adapting the novel.
How weird that none of the online reviews or comments mention the time period. They obviously had a lot of fun with it -- at first it seems to be the 1920s, as Anjelica Huston mentions that as a decorator she does "Art Deco" (a term that I believe was coined well after the actual period in which it was in vogue); then Kathleen Turner tells Jack Nicholson her car is an Excalibur, which is an '80's car made to look like something from the olden days. Later they're driving a Ford van from the '60s. Anjelica at one point goes to meet an informant in full-on Alexis Carrington drag, but most of the sets and costumes are '40s film noir inspired.