Word: charmless
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Even as a love story, the film fails. Part of the problem is the stars, who are too bland, and at times charmless, to inspire much audience empathy. A sadder difficulty is the script's uncertainty of tone. Alex's and Sheila's batty home lives are presented in such outrageous broad strokes that the credibility of the couple's supposedly sincere romance is under mined. There are a few funny peripheral moments, especially those that focus on the mores of video dating, but there are also stale gags about wayward cars and coitus interruptus...
...fact, the treatment of Fats displays considerable creativity. The camera photographs him like a real person, so that he seems to change expression and even react to individual lines. His presence enlivens the generally charmless Magic, though not even he can save the unhappy and unsatisfying climax. Somebody -- or several somebodies -- blundered badly with this film. The most intelligent thing in it is the dummy...
...flawless cast plays superbly off of Lemmon, especially Robert Picardo as Jud. Unafraid of being charmless or unendearing, Picardo gives a wiry, courageous performance which ultimately wins us over and holds its own against his formidable stage father. Director Arthur Storch provides one of the smoothest, cleanest pieces of staging I have ever seen--he also invokes splendid, precise comic timing from the entire cast. William Ritman's split-level set is sheer genius, both aesthetically and thematically. Like Scottie, it has something for everyone: paneled walls, lots of framed photos, ultra-modern but ultra-comfortable furniture, all in attractive...
...their most faddish excesses; similar pranks have been pulled on the psychedelic animation of Yellow Submarine. Unfortunately, the show's creators have not lavished nearly so much care on their casting. The four Rutles (Idle, Innes, John Halsey, Rikki Fataar) are virtually indistinguishable, and their performances are morbidly charmless...
...terms of dramatic biodynamics, Schisgal has attempted to fuse the zany family comedy of You Can't Take It with You with the door-slamming wackiness of Feydeau's geometrically composed bedroom-chases-cum-orgies. Unfortunately, Schisgal's characters are as charmless as unthreaded spools, and he has yet to learn the primal lesson of the Feydeau farce: comic tension depends on who is hiding behind the door rather than who breezes casually through...