I really thought that this was going to be a can't miss, super box office hit that would revitalize the movie musical.
However, this movie falls under the category of "What Were They Thinking?" I can't speak for anyone else, but when I here the words, "Light hearted, musical comedy", I never think of John Huston. This was by far the biggest mistake of this movie. Huston had no idea of how to film this movie.
Carol Sobieski took Thomas Meehan's funny, charming musical and gutted it. Someone should have told her that when you're writing a musical comedy, it's important to have some comedy in the script.
Casting - I was disappointed in Carol Burnett. Perhaps it was the writing, or the direction, but I felt as though I were watching an exaggeration of one of her characters from her show, instead of something new and interesting. Albert Finney was fine, although, he's no singer. Ann Reinking is a lovely dancer, but terribly bland in this part. I will not comment on Aileen Quinn, other than to say I think they could have done better than her. In general, there is no chemistry between any of the actors in this movie.
Overall, this movie is awful. The shorter TV version with Kathy Bates and Victor Garber is far better than this mess.
2 out of 10
However, this movie falls under the category of "What Were They Thinking?" I can't speak for anyone else, but when I here the words, "Light hearted, musical comedy", I never think of John Huston. This was by far the biggest mistake of this movie. Huston had no idea of how to film this movie.
Carol Sobieski took Thomas Meehan's funny, charming musical and gutted it. Someone should have told her that when you're writing a musical comedy, it's important to have some comedy in the script.
Casting - I was disappointed in Carol Burnett. Perhaps it was the writing, or the direction, but I felt as though I were watching an exaggeration of one of her characters from her show, instead of something new and interesting. Albert Finney was fine, although, he's no singer. Ann Reinking is a lovely dancer, but terribly bland in this part. I will not comment on Aileen Quinn, other than to say I think they could have done better than her. In general, there is no chemistry between any of the actors in this movie.
Overall, this movie is awful. The shorter TV version with Kathy Bates and Victor Garber is far better than this mess.
2 out of 10