Word: comic
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Peter Barnes' Noses offers a perspective on human misery almost antithetical to that of the dark and despairing Seventh Seal. Barnes interprets the expression "black humor" literally, making it the basis for an inquiry into the comic aspects of a death-obsessed...
...fresh morning on a farm in Idalou, in the flatlands of West Texas, with an ashy-silver half-plate moon in the blue sky, the rally crowd was being warmed up by Texas agriculture commissioner Jim Hightower, a charismatic populist with a talent for comic fulmination. Dan Quayle, said Hightower, is so dumb he "thinks Cheerios are doughnut seeds." And: "If ignorance ever goes to $40 a barrel, I want the drilling rights on George Bush's head...
...mentor? Will she try to mother him? Need you ask? Will these two succumb to romantic entanglement? Well, no. Despite nicely managed temptation, they avoid it, and credit goes to David Seltzer for that intelligent choice. And for a movie that is full of terrific comic material and well-cast second bananas (John Goodman as Lilah's befuddled husband, Max Alexander and Mac Robbins as ne'er-do-well comedians...
...Field's comedic coach, Hanks is an appealing if sometimes irritating character--but above all, he's funny. His terse, mocking humor overshadows Field, who despite her comic efforts, remains a housewife who tries hard...
Lilah herself undergoes a series of apparently miraculous transitions in this movie--from housewife to would-be comic, to love-object, to successful comedian. The film's happy ending fails to answer the question of whether she's really found her true self, or if screenwriter Seltzer is just bowing to convention...