Word: slapstickers
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While an entire review filled with glorious praise could be written about each person who struts upon the stage of Guys and Dolls, I will have to try to summarize and make my raves more concise: The near-slapstick duo of Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Abraham Mills) and Benny South street (John Keefe) become the most clumsily charming racketeers the world has ever seen. Harry the Horse (Julio V. Gambuto), Big Jule (Clay Petre), and the other crap enthusiasts stumble over each other and gawk in bad New York accents with such silliness that many people (myself included) laughed...
...Cannes film festival, where Life is Beautiful won the Grand Jury Prize, Benigni kissed Martin Scorcese's shoes when he came to the podium to accept his award and hugged members of the jury. Benigni is a major national celebrity in Italy; here, his previous films (mostly high-concept slapstick comedies like Johnny Stecchino) have never found much of an audience, and his attempts to break into the American film market (Son of the Pink Panther) have fallen flat. He's been dubbed by some as Italy's Robin Williams, though this comparison hardly seems adequate. The best...
...first hour of the film passes like a dream. There's a good deal of slapstick humor (flower pots and eggs falling on the heads of government officials, Benigni paying so much attention to Dora in his restaurant that he ends up carrying a live poodle on his serving tray), complemented by a lyrical and occasionally surreal style. Benigni's talent as a wordsmith is also evident: no knowledge of Italian is necessary to understand that he has a way with the language that is highly amusing in itself. There are also, however, hints of what is to come...
...Laurel and Hardy--think a snappier Saps at Sea--except that the Stan and Ollie here are Tucci and co-star Oliver Platt. Tucci, incapable of a gross moment even in the slapstick, seasick exertions of shipboard burlesque, nicely approximates Laurel's high, piping whine as counterpoint to Platt's unctuous exasperation. They are two actors stowed away on a '40s-ish ocean liner, ever scurrying from a British stage star who wants them arrested, gelded, dead. Also onboard are a deposed queen (Isabella Rossellini), a gay tennis player (Billy Connolly), a Teutonic chief steward (Campbell Scott) and a suicidal...
...Sony's "Men in Black." The key to this summer's success is diversity, according to Robert Bucksbaum, an analyst at box office watchers Reel Source. "You saw a wide range of films that you normally don't see in the summer: 'There's Something About Mary,' a slapstick comedy; 'Saving Private Ryan,' an Oscar-contending drama; and 'The Truman Show,' a warm-hearted satire," Bucksbaum says. "Family films did better than expected -- there's 'Mulan,' and 'The Parent Trap.' Even 'Ever After' is turning out to be a solid hit. It wasn't just a typical summer full...