WHAT I ALREADY KNEW ABOUT THE MOVIE:
1) It's a Marx Brothers movie.
2) Because it's a Marx Brothers movie, I would probably not like it.
LET ME EXPLAIN...
Well, I was 100% correct about what I already knew about the movie. It was indeed a Marx Brothers film, and I indeed did not like it. Their humor is so horribly lame, corny, and ridiculous that it's not funny but stupid. And this is coming from a guy who loves the "Ace Ventura" movies...
However, there was something about it that I liked. What is that? You'll have to keep reading to find out...
I did learn something new watching this that I didn't pick up when watching A Night at the Opera. And that would be that Harpo Marx is a jerk. Apparently his role was to employ sight gags and physical comedy, but he always did it at the expense of others. I suppose one could argue that the people he picked on were jerks and deserved it, but there was no evidence of that until Harpo started burning their hats or cutting off their cigars and jackets. In other words, Harpo started it.
Actually, to be fair, I need to admit the following: Groucho is a pretty big jerk, too.
What makes this a "Top 100" Movie?
As with the other Marx Brothers movie on the AFI List, "A Night at the Opera", I have no flippin' clue why this is even considered to be an average movie, let alone one of the best ever made. Seriously?? It's supposedly a groundbreaking political satire because of its focus on dictatorship and war right when Mussolini and Hitler were coming to power. But come on! The plot for Marx Brothers' films tend to be nothing more than trivial vehicles to give the comedy team a platform to say cheesy lines and perform stupid stunts. I just can't picture them thinking "let's do a film that cleverly satirizes politics and the possibility of war and makes fun of today's political environment." It seems much more likely that they thought "Hey, we have some more jokes to tell! What haven't we done yet? I know! We'll make Groucho the leader of a country!"
Complaints:
The Marx Brothers in general. I do not like them. Also, the best joke in the whole movie (the mirror gag) wasn't even original! Charlie Chaplin did it 17 years earlier in 1916's "The Floorwalker".
LET ME SUM UP...
The Marx Brothers are not funny. However, as I mentioned above, there was something I liked about this film. What is that? It's only 68 minutes long...
MY RATING: 1.5/10
TOTAL # OF FILMS WATCHED: 79
3 comments:
I agree! About everything! Your review had more humor in it than anything I've seen of the Marx Brothers.
Josh, you make me laugh! :)
you have to place yourself in the mindset of the times and what was considered appropriate for the times i.e. censorship etc. This was a vaudevillian gone largescreen. I appreciate them from the impact they have had on the evolution of the comedy genre - not specifically for them in themselves
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