Reviews

I am really dumbfounded how so many people find this movie so funny. It does have its funny moments. However, the plots sucks big time. It is patterned after B-movie comedies of the late 40s and 50s except for the sex in it. It is really a dumb and senseless plot. Is this what comedy has come to in the current age? It seems like movies today are either grossly violent or just plainly uninspired. There have been a few exceptions, of course, like Juno.

Even the male nudity doesn't score here although some reviewers think that this a great new trend. Oh, save me from this insipidity. There has been male nudity of this sort since the 70s, so I fail to see what the big thing is here. Pun unintended.

Al though this movie isn't at the bottom of my list, this is among the worse commercial movies I have seen. I do not understand why Nick Cage took on this movie. There are only two things that rise slightly above category, but these are not enough to change my vote: Dana Carvey and his slick and funny pickpocketing and Florence Stanley is funny — I liked her a lot. She and Dana raise the movie to 1.5, which is still short of 2.

The acting sucks and the writing sucks. And the plot sucks big time. The movie is roughly a modern version of slap stick. Classical slap stick is probably better. The finale was worse than the movie itself. Essentially, the finale was predictable.

This film is funny from one end to the other, even if one is not a smoker. Chong is a hopeless drop-out who wants nothing to do with convention. He poses in drag (the top half) hitchhiking on the highway. Cheech sees him (her) and turns around and picks him up before he realizes that Chong is not a female. This sets up the film and away it goes. Each scene is funny. The one with Strawberry (Tom Skerritt) is especially funny. Of course, all these scenes are virtually implausible, but that makes them funny. Stacy Keach and his crew of officers are totally incompetent, but funny. The final scene at the Roxbury doesn't follow the genre of the movie, but it is nevertheless funny. I agree with others that there is no plot, but then who cares in a movie of this ilk?

I watched it for umpteenth time last night on the tube (God forbid). I became entranced as the movie wended its way on. I couldn't help but fall in love with Elwood, or rather, become envious of him. He took everything so lightly and nothing seemed to upset him.

At the end of the film, the MC noted that Stewart wanted to make Elwood a little more crusty around the edges. He did so in a TV movie version 20 years later, the MC said, but I have never seen it. Actually, I like Elwood just the way that Jimmy portrayed him. That is the way I want to think of and remember Elwood. And, of course, who wouldn't want to have Harvey as a friend?

Terraplane comments on American views of British comedy. This movie is priceless as nearly all of Alec Guinness's movies are. Referring to the golden age of British comedy, as an American now living in Canada, I tend find British comedy falls into two classes: very good or rather insipid. Obviously, this movie falls into the former. Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers became great stars. Alec could do drama as well as comedy while Peter was a master at satire in many of his films, though this one is not satirical. It is just great comedy. Another actor, Herbert Lom, went on to act in many of the Pink Panther films by which time he had developed his technique for comedy costarring with Peter Sellers. I don't think that the American remake of The Pink Panther deserves comment.

This is truly a funny movie. His dance scene done with the tape is one of the funniest scenes I can recall. I thought the "I am gay" scene at the high school graduation ceremony a bit surrealistic, though it was funny. While watching it for the third time, I started to pick up on a little small segments that I had missed. One was when Matt Dillon's girl friend, a classic ditz, tried to use a dial phone which she had never used before. Kevin Klein made this film successful along Tom Selleck. This was also the first time I could appreciate Debbie Reynolds; she proved that she can be funny. She confirmed this in the TV series 'Will and Grace.' One discovery that I found after the third viewing is Lauren Ambrose of '6 Feet Under' fame. She sticks out with her red bangs, but it is obvious that this is one of her first films. Bob Newhart is also very funny at the high school principle.

I am going to have to reread the ending of the book. The ending may have been changed, but I am not sure how much if any. I won't discuss it now so I won't ruin it for others. I found the movie moved fast, too fast for viewers who haven't read the book. The British accents and some French accents went to fast to be totally comprehended. I appreciate their trying to keep as much of the book in the movie as possible while trying keep the movie from becoming too long. I got caught up in wondering how much of the book would be kept. It has some scenes that are borderline gruesome, but they are necessary for the plot. I am of the opinion that the Church has overreacted to the movie. They seem to think that the movie is treating the Jesus-Magdalene issue as fact, whereas I feel the movie is treating this as a contention that may or may not be true. Everyone should have the right to make this decision for themselves.