It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Classic comedy. Sure, it's overblown and there are plenty of gags that don't land, but the stuff that works, works very well in my opinion. Great cast, lots of funny cameos, and, like another comedy I really enjoy, The Blues Brothers, it gets points for the sheer ambitious insanity of some of the setpieces and chase sequences. There are some smaller moments and sequences in the film that really stand out to me. Dick Shawn's introduction scenes with his girlfriend are a riot. Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett trying to recruit Jim Backus to fly them to Santa Rosita is a personal favorite as well. Spencer Tracy's phone conversations with his wife and daughter are hilariously on point
My favorite physical gag (in a film filled with them) is probably when Sid Caesar inadvertently takes out the staircase of the warehouse with a sledgehammer. Very entertaining.
7.5/10
The Descendants
I saw a trailer for the new Alexander Payne/Giamatti collaboration, which got me wanting to revisit Sideways, but, instead, I went with a Payne film I'd never seen, The Descendants. I was really impressed by the performances. Clooney delivered some of his best work and Shailene Woodley was thoroughly convincing in her role, as was the younger actress who played her sister. I think Payne tends to hit the right notes of combining comedy with serious observational drama in his films, and this is no exception. There are some legitimate laughs, some cringe comedy (involving Woodley's boyfriend's faux pas for instance), and a lot of sad, emotionally resonant scenes as well. Judy Greer was excellent in a role that could have easily been an after thought. Was surprised to see Matthew Lillard and Beau Bridges. I had no idea that they were in the film.
The movie centers on Clooney's character dealing with his wife being in a coma after a boating accent and then having to deal with the realization that she was having an affair. It's a tough watch at times, as some of the more emotional scenes really do hit hard. I also liked how there was complexity to some of the character choices. Particularly, Clooney's character makes a pivotal decision late in the film that left me wondering how much of it was motivated by a connection to his ancestral home and how much of it was motivated by justifiable anger. Highly recommend it.
8/10
Bowfinger
This comedy from 1999 flew under the radar, I think, but it's got some really funny work from Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy. The premise itself is pretty damn funny, with Martin, as a low-rent filmmaker, deciding to make a movie where the A-list star does not even realize he is a part of the film. Murphy has a dual role and crushes both of them. Martin is consistently funny and Heather Graham steals the film in sequences with a really funny subplot that runs throughout the film. It is certainly not the best Murphy or Martin comedy or among the best, but it delivers some good laughs and is ultimately quite fun despite being somewhat forgettable.
7/10
