During the 1980's we all knew, if you saw an item twisted into a knot on a movie-poster, the film would invariably fall into the slapstick category that started with Airplane". In this case we are greeted by a twisted syringe.
"Jeckyll and Hyde Together Again" falls in the same vein as "Airplane", "Hot Shots" or "Top Secret" and even though it does not reach those 'high' standards, the jokes are coming hard and fast and relentless, punching above and below the belt, not leaving the audience much time to find many flaws.
Bess Armstrong and Krista Errickson are both cute as a button, Tim Thomerson is reliable as ever, it's a joy to watch Michael McGuire chew his scenes and do look out for 'guest-appearances' by Liz Sheridan, Lin Shaye as sex-starved nurse and George Chakiris, playing (as he often does) himself.
But the honourable Oscar (carved out of chewing gum and jelly beans) must go to Mark Blankfield, one of the shamefully neglected comedians of his time. His hyper-nervous Daniel Jeckyll-persona makes one want to reach for the remote, playing his scenes back in slow-motion, ever in danger adopting the characters quirks and ticks. He's only upstaged by Blankfield as Mr. Hyde who, had the movie been better promoted and more successful, could have ended a cinematic cult-figure. Few comedians have gone as over the top as Blankfield and why we haven't seen more of him on the big-screen will probably remain one of Hollywood's eternal secrets.
Granted, Jerry Belson, though a veteran of light comedy himself, is no Jim Abrahams or David Zucker. The production has the air of television about it, never as easy or elegant as above mentioned slapstick-classics but compensates with pure self-confidence.
If you're a fan of the "Airplane"-genre of slapstick, I recommend this blindly and if you've grown up with the newer generation ala "Epic Movie", I recommend this because it comes from a time where slapstick still meant quality and hard work. They just don't make them like they used to 9 points out of 10 points - slapstick-points, that is.
"Jeckyll and Hyde Together Again" falls in the same vein as "Airplane", "Hot Shots" or "Top Secret" and even though it does not reach those 'high' standards, the jokes are coming hard and fast and relentless, punching above and below the belt, not leaving the audience much time to find many flaws.
Bess Armstrong and Krista Errickson are both cute as a button, Tim Thomerson is reliable as ever, it's a joy to watch Michael McGuire chew his scenes and do look out for 'guest-appearances' by Liz Sheridan, Lin Shaye as sex-starved nurse and George Chakiris, playing (as he often does) himself.
But the honourable Oscar (carved out of chewing gum and jelly beans) must go to Mark Blankfield, one of the shamefully neglected comedians of his time. His hyper-nervous Daniel Jeckyll-persona makes one want to reach for the remote, playing his scenes back in slow-motion, ever in danger adopting the characters quirks and ticks. He's only upstaged by Blankfield as Mr. Hyde who, had the movie been better promoted and more successful, could have ended a cinematic cult-figure. Few comedians have gone as over the top as Blankfield and why we haven't seen more of him on the big-screen will probably remain one of Hollywood's eternal secrets.
Granted, Jerry Belson, though a veteran of light comedy himself, is no Jim Abrahams or David Zucker. The production has the air of television about it, never as easy or elegant as above mentioned slapstick-classics but compensates with pure self-confidence.
If you're a fan of the "Airplane"-genre of slapstick, I recommend this blindly and if you've grown up with the newer generation ala "Epic Movie", I recommend this because it comes from a time where slapstick still meant quality and hard work. They just don't make them like they used to 9 points out of 10 points - slapstick-points, that is.