Watched about twenty minutes of it until I realized that I was viewing "Hail Ceasar" with the satire deftly neutered and utterly toothless. With the possible exception of John Wayne and Ward Bond I cannot conceive of two actors less suited to zany, Marxian antics than James Cagney and Pat O'Brien. The former's verbal zingers are nasty/mean instead of nasty/funny while the later's physical comedy timing is lumbering rather than adroit. And you can double that for director Lloyd Bacon! Literally the only time I essayed a chuckle was when the Brit extra scolded Ralph Bellamy's boob studio exec on his lack of knowledge of limey military culture. And speaking of Bellamy when you compare his trite take with the brilliantly layered performance of Josh Brolin in the same role sixty eight years later the limitations of this 1938 Hollywood looks on itself offering cause you to do a double take. C minus.
Review of Boy Meets Girl
