Friday, March 24, 2006
Recycling me
Bach and Raymond Chandler, inter alia, recycled themselves, so why can't I? So here is a short review I wrote for Zip.ca of After the Fox, which I watched tonight.
Long wait, small pay-off - Bunuel (Toronto, ON)
I remember when this movie came out in 1966, but for whatever reason I'd never seen it. I probably would have enjoyed it more then than now. It isn't bad, but it's barely above mediocre. The problem is the thoroughly pedestrian script by Neil Simon. The idea is cute: a famous thief, "The Fox" (Peter Sellers), will smuggle a shipload of stolen gold into Italy by pretending he is a film director and that the incident is part of the movie he is shooting in a small Italian town.Simon and director Vittorio De Sica go mostly for the obvious, which is a pity, given the cast. Peter Sellers is miles above this, and the movie is worth watching only for his performance. The funniest bit in the picture I am guessing he improvised. It's a little shtick which occurs after he cons the police chief into getting him a shooting permit in exchange for a walk-on in the movie - Sellers goes a little crazy and rips things off the shelves, then explains that he is emotional and must express himself. It's totally unexpected and very funny. Alas, the rest of the what's on screen is much more predictable.Britt Ekland is charming as Sellers's sister, and Victor Mature is quite funny as an actor much like himself. Sellers's two sidekicks, when they're not mugging, provoke a few laughs. And De Sica has a cute cameo as himself, as well as allowing a satiric jibe at neo-realism.All in all, mildly amusing, but far from a classic. But worth seeing to appreciate Peter Sellers's genius and integrity as a comic actor.
Incidentally, the DVD - the first one I received from Zip.ca since I joined - was damaged. I missed a whole scene. In fact, it was the penultimate scene, in which the gold arrives and Sellers and for that matter the whole town is arrested. Cut to the final scene, in which the judge threatens to imprison them all but Sellers takes the rap and makes a corny speech. Not an auspicious debut for Zip.
Long wait, small pay-off - Bunuel (Toronto, ON)
I remember when this movie came out in 1966, but for whatever reason I'd never seen it. I probably would have enjoyed it more then than now. It isn't bad, but it's barely above mediocre. The problem is the thoroughly pedestrian script by Neil Simon. The idea is cute: a famous thief, "The Fox" (Peter Sellers), will smuggle a shipload of stolen gold into Italy by pretending he is a film director and that the incident is part of the movie he is shooting in a small Italian town.Simon and director Vittorio De Sica go mostly for the obvious, which is a pity, given the cast. Peter Sellers is miles above this, and the movie is worth watching only for his performance. The funniest bit in the picture I am guessing he improvised. It's a little shtick which occurs after he cons the police chief into getting him a shooting permit in exchange for a walk-on in the movie - Sellers goes a little crazy and rips things off the shelves, then explains that he is emotional and must express himself. It's totally unexpected and very funny. Alas, the rest of the what's on screen is much more predictable.Britt Ekland is charming as Sellers's sister, and Victor Mature is quite funny as an actor much like himself. Sellers's two sidekicks, when they're not mugging, provoke a few laughs. And De Sica has a cute cameo as himself, as well as allowing a satiric jibe at neo-realism.All in all, mildly amusing, but far from a classic. But worth seeing to appreciate Peter Sellers's genius and integrity as a comic actor.
Incidentally, the DVD - the first one I received from Zip.ca since I joined - was damaged. I missed a whole scene. In fact, it was the penultimate scene, in which the gold arrives and Sellers and for that matter the whole town is arrested. Cut to the final scene, in which the judge threatens to imprison them all but Sellers takes the rap and makes a corny speech. Not an auspicious debut for Zip.
# posted by Stephen @ 1:21 a.m. 
