yesfan2012 Reviews

The Big Mouth (1967)

Many fine moments,best effort during run at Columbia.

[8/10 · 25 July 2013]

When i view this film i tend to look at it from the directors lens.In this respect it has many positives,more so then if viewed strictly on comedic pacing and storyline.The opening scene has Clamson reeling in Valentine while fishing and is told about some diamonds and where they are hidden.This is the basic plot and the comedy spins from this premise,as such it can be thin but the direction by Lewis is the high point when watching this movie.There is the opening scene which leads from the beach with Clamson and Valentine into this beautiful helicopter shot which rises and sweeps away from the beach while the credits run and comes right back to the beach and the continuation of the scene.There is a scene of Clamson being stopped by the police and an argument over the various violations and there numbers.Clamson sits in the car while this argument ensues and Lewis has him framed in the scene with his face in the background framed by a cops arm on his hip in the foreground.The direction of Lewis in this movie is the star. So when you watch this movie look at it from the view of Lewis and how he is blocking the scenes and compare it to other comedies you like.You will see the deft use of colors and sound,also his use of language to make his movies very layered beyond just the punchline of the scene.The Big Mouth is filled with these Lewis touches,all the comedy might not work but it's his attempt to experiment that must be applauded.So give this movie a second look and don't just look for the comedic payoff but look for the setup through the deft lensing by Lewis and i think you'll have a greater appreciation of this film.

Which Way to the Front? (1970)

WB torpedo's a fine movie and a Great Director and Comedian

[9/10 · 9 May 2013]

Warner Brothers botched the distribution of this movie.Lewis made a movie that was more adult and topical in light of the times.The movie was more plot driven then many of his other directorial efforts.Lewis makes great use of the art of verbal humor,the scene of Byers trying to learn German from a phonograph record.He fractures and mocks the instructor and the sound of the German language.The scene of Byers/Kesselring's meeting with Hitler is one of Lewis's great masterworks of verbal comedy.Byers in disguise at a German checkpoint double talks the guard,then Byers/Kesselring gets the guard to hand him the password and then gives him the password back.Byers great line at the beginning of the movie that "every man has a right to be killed fighting for his country" is pure gold in the light of Vietnam.The comedy gems in the second half of this movie are fast and furious.I think it is the most verbal driven and more adult in it's comic pacing than most lewis vehicles.I think Lewis was going in new directions.WB killed any such future which we can only guess at seeing it all but derailed his career.

The Patsy (1964)

A Director as star in this classic

[10/10 · 27 April 2012]

What makes this movie a Lewis gem is his terrific direction behind the lens.Jerry breaks the boundaries between fiction and reality,audience and story.The ending of the film shows that Stanley is actually Jerry,and his falling off the building leads to a shot of camera and crew.Jerry then states,"The people in the theater know i ain't gonna die;I'm gonna make more movies,so i couldn't die" while walking off the set with Ina Balin calling him a nut.So the ending is not a closing of a fictional tale but a revealing of reality in the form of Jerry exiting stage left off to make another movie.This can be maddening to some but what makes Lewis revolutionary to me. His opening of the film with Stanley falling out a window and falling with credits running only to hit a diving board and landing back in the room is terrific in form.The use of the mirror when Stanley is being fit for a suit wanting to look like is idol George Raft,Raft appearing in the shot as a reflection of Stanley.The Director is the star,brilliant.

Cracking Up (1983)

Near perfect Lewis vehicle

[9/10 · 22 January 2012]

After the release of Hardly Working which opened number one it's first weekend,I don't think Cracking Up even got a U.S. release.When Jerry teams with Bill Richmond on the writing usually good comedy follows: Nutty Professor,The Patsy,The Errand Boy.Well Lewis/Richmond wrote this movie and came up with a gem.

The scene of him entering the doctors office is just a side splitter, Jerry laying carpet with the Walkman headphones on had my son laughing for days.All the scenes had a very good flow to them and Jerry seemed very invigorated and up for this outing.Compared to the outings of the late 60's this is a very interested Jerry and it shows.This movie is an overlooked classic.

Hardly Working (1980)

Jerry Lewis as total filmmaker.

[9/10 · 21 January 2012]

This was Jerry in better form then anything he had done since the Patsy or Disorderly Orderly.Nobody can make the donut scene any better, pacing was perfect.Jerry captured the times without getting too overly political.The pacing at times lagged some and the camera work seemed to suffer some from indifference.

In totality the movie has some terrific Lewis moments,the post office is the perfect vehicle for Jerry at this point in his career.If the movie were released in 2012 it would fit in perfectly in the Obama age of government that is Hardly Working.I guess the era of Obama has not improved much on the Carter years,I think Jerry Lewis was about 30 years ahead of time or the more things change, the more they stay the same.The movie holds up surprisingly well.A terrific Lewis vehicle.