Reviews

Watched this last night - it's 2021. Have tried to give it a fair rating

MDB current rating 8.0? This is only going to fall over time.

This film must have seemed excellent at the time with some very good performances from the male leads, an insight into the extraordinary lifestyle available to the few in that period, while having an underlying social commentary

Unfortunately time has not dealt kindly with the comedy films of the past

The dividing line is in my view about 1970. Little before that stands up well today. The Graduate and The Producers still look good but precious little else does. There are outliers like Kind Hearts and Coronets, and Les Vacances de M Hulot, but these are few and far between.

Will put it down as a learning experience

We have just watched this on TV. I get easily bored but this kept me riveted

I didn't know anything about Andy Kaufman. Even if I did, and I didn't like him - so what? Some of the 1 star reviewers seem to downgrade the film because of a personal preference. Seems misguided to me. You might just as well say " I didn't agree with Adolf Hitler's policies and he was a real jerk so I'll give Downfall 1 star too". I don't understand why you would want to watch a film where there was really no possibility that you would like it. I've got better ways to spend my time

I thought JIm Carrey was excellent. Good supporting cast too. Who's to say what the real Andy Kaufman was actually like - I think we can all accept that he was at the very least a bit unusual.

Subsequently I've seen clips of Andy Kaufman on YouTube and if nothing else the recreation of his act was extraordinarily good

I could watch this again

I struggled to get through to the end.

Clearly quite a lot of people rated this film, but I merely found it dull with little in the way of plot or pace. These are major and fatal flaws. I have had to read some of the other reviews to even work out what actually happened.

The actors did what they could, and were generally very convincing. Some of the camera-work was also of a high standard.

I'm no fan of frantic films filled with over-acting, but this is not the first film where I longed for something - anything - to happen to relieve the boredom.

When you're watching a film with someone else and after 45 minutes you're saying "well it's supposed to be good and I'm sure it'll improve", that's not a good sign.

It wasn't and it didn't.

This is in the road movie genre about a group of 4 middle aged men tackling a long distance walk in the North of England.

It is set against the backdrop of the lovely scenery of the Coast to Coast walk. This is standard film fare - so far so good. I quite liked the sound of a fly on the wall documentary although I naturally incline towards the traditional.

Unfortunately, the execution is very poor. It just seems like a badly made amateur video, containing characters who are not particularly well drawn and who are generally unlikeable.

Like an amateurish version of "The Trip" with Coogan and Brydon, minus the jokes, and the charm that many find there.

I wouldn't normally give a score as low as 2, and usually resent the sort of reviewer who would happily give such a score, but it really is that bad

Very surprised that the rating is currently languishing below 7. It's so enjoyable

John Candy is great in this one - you're just rooting for him all the way. He plays the part of the lovable slob, who may not always make the best decisions for himself, but is remarkably shrewd when it comes to other people

Good family entertainment and is a great advert for Uncles (and Aunts too of course) to take a greater role on helping their young relatives find their way in the world

Feel good - yes!

Picked this up on DVD for £3 ($6) - didn't know anything about it We thought it one of the funniest films we've seen for some time. Thought I'd check out the rating and was surprised how low (6.6) it was. Then checked out some of the "Hated It" comments to see why this could be I guess that a lot of people find this film offensive, with stereotypical attitudes - like how a bisexual woman could kiss both a man and a woman (an extraordinary observation). Or that it was unfair to poke fun at someone who spent all his waking hours dressed up as pirate. I think that comment came from a member of the Long John Silver Alliance.

Lighten up! Comedy - like any other artistic endeavour is subjective - all I can say is that I laughed and found that at many points the jokes were coming faster than I could process them - always a good sign.

A good combination of slapstick humour and smart-ass comments delivered at a rapid pace And an ever-popular theme: will the underdogs triumph? Watch it and find out

So we settled down to watch this and over 100 minutes later were still waiting for something to happen "I thought this was supposed to be a comedy?" Well, yes but ... "And you said that this has a very good rating" Yes but ...

This isn't the first time that I've watched a film on the recommendation of several thousand reviewers, and have felt that too much value is attached to a quirky approach and too little value is being assigned to pace and storytelling

And as for comedy - there was very little IMHO

We found it all rather dull and unconvincing inasmuch as the Bill Murray character was supposed to have attracted all these attractive women while having little personality or conversation himself. Brave of him to do this film, but can't see it as a great success.

Not even great for a wet Sunday afternoon - very surprising that most people rate it as a 7 or 8 but then I suspect that this is largely due to the enduring popularity of Bill Murray

Well, I bought the DVD so I have to say that I like it. Solely because it's got Big Joe Turner in it along with Fats Domino. They're miming to what appear to be new versions of some of their own tracks. Just watching Big Joe "singing" is enough to get my vote. They're so little of him in his prime that I'm really grateful for anything I can get. Has an amusing call and response section with the young white teenage audience. And then he "appears" on TV. Fats Domino is his usual impeccable self. The plot and acting is all very silly but worth it for the brief performances. Has Margaret Dumont in as well with a wimpish husband although "the worm turns" by the end.