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A howl...
by The Great Fat Bear (movies profile)
Oct 16, 2003
1
of
1 people found this review helpful
...C.Guest is one of the smartest satirist going. He perfectly nails aspects of our culture, just slightly under the radar screen of awareness. Most satirical comedies tend to focus on easily lampooned characatures of our society (the donut eating cop, the shyster lawyer, basically the normal fare for a Jim Carrey movie). Guest however, goes after those elements of society that rarely draw attention, except momentary notice at best. The 4th tier rock band, never quite breaking through (Spinal Tap), regional theatre and all the wanna-be's it draws (Waiting for Guffman), and dog shows.
Here Guest nails the stereotypes and the hangers on, the gay couple, the southern boy out of his league, the struggling couple that ignores the elephant in the room (the wife is a tramp), and the perfectionist couple driven so hard they drive their dog insane. Perhaps the funniest comedic characters are the play by play duo where the announcer continually bulls over the expert color man in the middle of his explanations.
What might disappoint some is Guest doesn't write the slapstick or formulaic comedy that we are accustomed to through the bulk of the studio machine (although there are moments). Some of the comedy is even painful, but still works, because of the subtelty. For instance Levy and O'Hara's character getting rejected by Visa and literally having to stay in a supply closet at the hotel. Some of the comedy is that situational kind of thing. Some of it is the bright language. The characters speak in common speak, not movie lingo speak, and it makes the documentary format even more acceptable to the viewer. If you want a roll over laugh because of slapstick, get an Ace Ventura movie. If you want a smart comedy, with well defined characters moving uncomfortably through a scenario as real as possible, but with a wink and a nod of humor, try any of the Christopher Guest movies, like this one. |
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