Posted on 03/22/2005 2:55:23 PM PST by Rastus
NEW YORK – A maniacal self-delight has been a keynote of John Lithgow's comic performances – a silvery glee like the silvery toupee that crowns him in the new Broadway musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
He stars as a con man-count who fleeces wealthy women on the Riviera, and Mr. Lithgow's own joy in his preening and seducing shifts easily into camp vanity ("Breeding is important – but lighting is everything"). Yet he is actually supposed to be the more debonair of the two frauds in this free adaptation of the 1988 Michael Caine-Steve Martin film. If the effortless Mr. Caine sipped his character like an aperitif, Mr. Lithgow gulps it down with a sharky grin.
To heighten the necessary contrast with Freddy, the crass small-timer who wants in on the count's action, the show makes the small-timer (Norbert Leo Butz) even crasser. In fact, the show occasionally slides into test-the-boundaries humor. At one point, Mr. Lithgow is nearly trapped into marrying an Oklahoma heiress. In a boot-stomping, Best Little Whorehouse-ish number, she extols her home state to the faux count: "There's not a tree or a Jew/To block the lovely view."
That's mild compared with Freddy's body-orifice explorations – employed while playing the count's brother Ruprecht, the drooling genetic throwback that all blueblood families supposedly have. Here, he's just a gross-out ploy to drive away the soon-departed Sooner ("The Bushes of Tex/Were nervous wrecks/Because their son was so dim/But – look what happened to him").
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
The last line bashing Bush is just pathetic. It's not even good as a lyric, but I guess it's heartening to know that the Left continues to misunderestimate the man to this day.
It's kind of sad that in the good ol' days when certain screenwriters really were communists loyal to the Soviet Union, they were able to separate their politics from their art and make a good movie for everyone to enjoy. Now, you can't escape it even in something light and fluffy like Scoundrels.
BTW, the Niven/Brando film version was decent.
Because of the tidbits you presented on the Broadway musical version, I will skip that, and watch the original movie a couple more times.
Congressman Billybob
Latest column, "Condi Rice & Pierce Flanigan's Father's Hat"
The Ent Industry just can't help itself. It is bitter about the election, and in general just loves to throw in thinly veiled or overt ideological messages in their product.
Just wait until Hillary runs. Their activism will take on new heights, and if, God forbid, she wins, then expect them to resort to gloating.
Oh, well...
Rent the '88 Frank Oz movie instead. Absolutely hilarious (and non-political), especially the scene where Steve Martin tries to prove to Glenne Headley that he has no feeling in his legs (a con, of course) as Michael Caine sticks his legs repeatedly.
Hey, don't be running down the ents. They came through at Isengard. (wisecracking now off). I could not agree more.
"Caine and Martin are excellent; so is the female lead whose name escapes me right now."
Glenn Headley. She's one of my favorites.
Any time I hear a reference to Lord of the Rings I can't help but think of this;
http://tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=932
Hilarious and sad. It was posted here at the time, but its always fun to revisit and see how someone can try and convince themselves that those matrix sequel turds were even in the same league as the pleasantly un-PC lord of the rings (well there was a nod to PC sensibilities here and there, but nothing like what I would have expected)
I don't remember the 'ents' though.
I saw this show in previews here in San Diego. It was good in Lithgow, dancing, costumes, sets, the supporting players, but marred by a lot of weak, barely rhyming lyrics and gratuitous crudity that added nothing. Both films were racy enough and actually far funnier. The actor playing Freddy wasn't a quarter of Martin or Brando and the female lead also weak compared to the supporting female and her film predecessors.
The Brando/Niven version is MUCH better than the "Scoundrels" remake. Brando is surprisingly good in a comic role.
It's one of those films I can (and do) watch over and over again. A true classic in my book.
Yes, it was a little gem. Both Martin and Caine were excellent, and the script was very funny.
RE: "A true classic in my book."
But here's the kicker: Nomatter how entertaining DRS is, it isn't even the best comedy of 1988. That honor goes to A Fish Called Wanda, one of the funniest movies of ALL-TIME.
OK, just try this instead...
Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
Oklahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk
Makin' lazy circles in the sky.
We know we belong to the land
And the land we belong to is grand!
And when we say
Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!
We're only sayin'
You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!
Oklahoma O.K.
I was wondering how the show would go over with people from "fly-over" country. ;-)
I got to see it the week before it opened in a preview. Mostly Noo Yawkas (and Jersey guys like me) at the show.
I sort of remember the movie but I don't remember if there were any lines that were as dismissive of the midwest as the play.
John Lithgow definitely went for the comedic pause on the Bush line and the audience did clap and holler. I gave some moderated boos so the folks around me could hear and a woman diagonally to the left of me turned around and gave me the thumbs up.
Despite the dismissiveness and some overdone crudeness, I found the play refreshing compared to the standard sing-every-word-that-comes-out-of-my-mouth musicals that are inexplicably popular. The dialogue was good and the songs fit in like a good old time musical.
Agreed about the crudeness but at least there was a lot of French bashing!
Here's one I like:
The Everlasting Hills of Oklahoma
(Tim Spencer)
The everlasting hills of Oklahoma
They hold a million treasures to be found
Golden grain on hills of green
Wave to valleys cool and clean
Too bad some folks have never seen
The everlasting hills of Oklahoma
The everlasting tales of Oklahoma
Are told in clouded statues in the sky
Pioneers who long have gone
Their wagon wheels still rumble on
When thunder peals and falls upon
The everlasting hills of Oklahoma
The everlasting fame of Oklahoma
Will live in men she claimed her own
Some were right and some were wrong
In history's pages, prose and song
O hail them now, for they all belong
To the everlasting hills of Oklahoma
Put the cork on the fork Ruprecht.
Ever see 'Midnight Run'? Another superlative comedy from '88. Not as good as AFCW though.
RE: "Ever see 'Midnight Run'? Another superlative comedy from '88. Not as good as AFCW though."
Just the ending on TV, so not really. I've heard good things about it, though. Isn't Robert DeNiro playing the "zany" role in that one to Charles Grodin's straightman?
You are not sensitive.
I am a blue-state resident who attends B'way shows on a regular basis. It is not unusual to find Bush-basing or Texas-smashing going on in many shows. I'll never forget the early 1990s revival of "Damn Yankees" with Mr. Lithgow when, apropos of NOTHING, he began to speechify about what a fruit J. Edgar Hoover was (like Mr. Lithgow should talk!). Needless to say, that reference cannot be found in the original version.
RE: "It doesn't really boil down that easily. It's a terrific character comedy. The same blend of comedy and crime/action that Martin Brest brought to 'Beverly Hills Cop'. The male camaraderie is on the level of Howard Hawks. See it unedited if you can. The language is essential."
Beverly Hills Cop (the first one--none of the others are worth bothering with) is one of the better blends of loopy comedy and violent action that I can think of, and if Midnight Run is in the same veign, it might be worth the rental. Thanks for the suggestion. Brest also did Scent of a Woman I believe, which was the slight but very enjoyable romantic comedy that won Al Pacino his Looooong deserved Best Actor Oscar. It's amusing for certain, but I like to pretend Al won for the Godfather: Part 2 instead.
And you don't have to worry about me catching the adultered version because I almost rarely watch a movie I've never seen before on TV unless I don't expect much of it or I've no other way of catching it. "F the FCC" is my heartfelt motto.
I was flipping through the channels yesterday, and I saw Paul Michael Glaser in what was obviously a recent role. Hey, I like Starsky & Hutch, so I figured I'd see what it was and see what he looked like now. He's talking to this woman, and he starts out talking about how terrible the economy is. Okay, that's fine, that could happen. Then, he starts bumbling around because she makes him nervous. He says, "Sorry, I wanted this to be a George Clooney moment and instead it's George Bush." Not the most offensive thing ever, but more evidence that they can't just make a show any more.
I'm going back to my Starksy DVDs. :)
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