Be thankful its not presented in Smell-o-Vision.

I suppose if your culture has been raped and burned by corporate thugs leaving your generation with nothing to hang its artistic hat on, it makes sense to keep looking back at a bygone era for direction. This is sad. Honoring a movement that effected the changes that led to the slaughter of untold numbers of Cambodians and Vietnamese. It's cool though, American teens got to party in the mud, so everything good, man. I'm sure they won't discuss the larger global political aspect of these useful idiots, just stick with the marketing plan and sell the music and free love.






Screenwriters: James Schamus (Hulk)
Director: Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)
Actors: Liev Schreiber (Wolverine), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen), Emile Hirsch (Milk), Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood), Imelda Staunton (Freedom Writers) and Eugene Levy (American Pie)

Labels: Ang Lee, Emile Hirsch, Eugene Levy, film, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Liev Schreiber, movie trailer, Paul Dano

Loaded with wit and charm, this mostly improvised story about a small town's trials while putting on a stage play to celebrate their town's 150th anniversary is one of the best comedies of the nineties. Christopher Guest fronts an ensemble cast that includes Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard, Parker Posey, and Larry Miller. Guest shines in this film, but that is no easy task as everyone on screen is giving some of the more memorable performances of their careers. Posey's dim minded small town girl Libby Mae Brown is particularly funny (at least to me).

Much like Guest's previous ad-libbed outing, This is Spinal Tap! and his follow-up Best in Show, this movie is a showcase of comedians doing what they are meant to do - work off the tops of their heads. The wit in this piece, like in Spinal Tap has an organic vibe that only fuels the comedy. I highly recommend this film, especially if you've ever been involved in theater or the making of a film. The pathetic drama and public display of insecurity is perfectly mocked here.

If you've suffered through Guest and company's other, less successful outings For Your Consideration and A Mighty Wind, don't let those missteps deter you from this fantastic work.


Related Reviews:
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Young Frankenstein (1974)
Idiocracy (2006)


Other Critic's Reviews:
MetaCritic
Cinema de Merde

Labels: Catherine O'Hara, Christopher Guest, comedy, Eugene Levy, film, Fred Willard, movie review, Parker Posey