This movie is a straight absurdist-comedy. It is written, directed and stars Steve Martin and fits completely in his type of humour. It's nihilistic and zany. Frankly, the easiest way to describe the tone of this movie is it's like a Saturday Night Live sketch.
I kept thinking of SNL throughout the movie, because the whole conceit feels like an elongated sketch. It is filled with references, funny ironic setups and obviously cameos from SNL alums, which of course Martin is himself. The movie's humour therefore is ironic rather than funny. The dialog is absurd and the lines ironic but there are a few joke jokes. It leads to a movie that is less immediately funny.
I loved it though, because the movie's appeal rests on those Los Angeles insider situations. It is filled with what we call today memes about LA and living in LA and making it big in LA. It is a subject that is not necessarily profound and in most movies it devolves usually in something juvenile. Here it serves more as a back drop than anything.
It gives a familiar yet exotic backdrop which allows for my favourite scene the huge outdoor lunch. The amount and quality of jokes, how it staged, how it is shot, the speed and the precision. It is a very dynamic scene where everybody speaks out of order but it feels very natural and fresh. It makes you feel like you are there among friends and acquaintances. There is an amount of good jokes, but it is not saturated with absurdity. And it is a good way to introduce the romantic relationship.
Which leads me to the romantic plot of the movie. It's not good, but it's not bad either. It's hard to pin down which idea they had first: the parodic view of Cali living or the wacky romance. But it feels that way, that both ideas are independent and separate. That they are tacked one on the other.
I feel that I'm coming off angry or disappointed, which I am not, but frankly the movie is light and fun maybe because it does not take itself seriously and is half-baked. In the same fashion as SNL, the plot, theme or humour of the sketches does not really matter. More often than not, it plays on the energy of a sketch, or the actor's personality or even charisma. You're not laughing at David Pumpkins, you're laughing at Tom Hanks in a ridiculous costume. It's exactly the same in this movie, there is no Harris K. Telemacher, it's Steve Martin, and it's always been Steve Martin.
All of this to say that it is by far not a masterpiece, but it is charming enough to watch in its entirety. It has some good LA jokes, but it nothing exceedingly clever. It is a movie to watch for mental floss. I suspect that it could have been a cult classic had it not been niche in focusing on the LA aspect.
I kept thinking of SNL throughout the movie, because the whole conceit feels like an elongated sketch. It is filled with references, funny ironic setups and obviously cameos from SNL alums, which of course Martin is himself. The movie's humour therefore is ironic rather than funny. The dialog is absurd and the lines ironic but there are a few joke jokes. It leads to a movie that is less immediately funny.
I loved it though, because the movie's appeal rests on those Los Angeles insider situations. It is filled with what we call today memes about LA and living in LA and making it big in LA. It is a subject that is not necessarily profound and in most movies it devolves usually in something juvenile. Here it serves more as a back drop than anything.
It gives a familiar yet exotic backdrop which allows for my favourite scene the huge outdoor lunch. The amount and quality of jokes, how it staged, how it is shot, the speed and the precision. It is a very dynamic scene where everybody speaks out of order but it feels very natural and fresh. It makes you feel like you are there among friends and acquaintances. There is an amount of good jokes, but it is not saturated with absurdity. And it is a good way to introduce the romantic relationship.
Which leads me to the romantic plot of the movie. It's not good, but it's not bad either. It's hard to pin down which idea they had first: the parodic view of Cali living or the wacky romance. But it feels that way, that both ideas are independent and separate. That they are tacked one on the other.
I feel that I'm coming off angry or disappointed, which I am not, but frankly the movie is light and fun maybe because it does not take itself seriously and is half-baked. In the same fashion as SNL, the plot, theme or humour of the sketches does not really matter. More often than not, it plays on the energy of a sketch, or the actor's personality or even charisma. You're not laughing at David Pumpkins, you're laughing at Tom Hanks in a ridiculous costume. It's exactly the same in this movie, there is no Harris K. Telemacher, it's Steve Martin, and it's always been Steve Martin.
All of this to say that it is by far not a masterpiece, but it is charming enough to watch in its entirety. It has some good LA jokes, but it nothing exceedingly clever. It is a movie to watch for mental floss. I suspect that it could have been a cult classic had it not been niche in focusing on the LA aspect.