The film genre known as screwball comedy was a sort of predecessor to situation comedy. In this piece–a follow-up to my review of Seducing Dr. Lewis–I offer suggestions for probing “oddball comedy.”
Oddball comedies are the antithesis of formulaic mass market movies. They can be sweet and uplifting, but they trade in absurdity, improbability, irony, satire, and surrealism. They are a blend of the Apollonian (intellectual) and the Dionysian (sensual, untethered from the commonplace, inverted perspectives).
Here is a smattering of oddball comedies to try, listed in alphabetical order:
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Through the Window and Disappeared (2013): Phew, that’s a mouthful but it sets up the entire movie. When Allan’s cat dies, he’s shuffled off to the old folks home but Allan wants no part of it and goes AWOL. Elephants in Sweden? Why not? Not much goes right–for the bad guys! A caper film the likes of which you’ve seldom seen.
Amélie (2001): There are actually people who don’t like this film and all I can say is get over yourselves. This tasty morsel directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet is worth watching for its first five minutes alone. Add Audrey Tatou oozing coquettish cuteness, an unconventional love story, and absurdity on Montmartre and it’s on my all-time favorite films list.
The Big Lebowski (1998): “That rug really pulled the room together,” says Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski to the thugs who just peed on his carpet. I’ll watch anything from Joel and Ethan Coen, but what a cast of crazy and crazed characters: John Goodman as a bowler who won’t roll on Shabbat, Steve Buscemi as a clueless fall guy, John Turturro setting back gay rights by a decade, Julianne Moore au naturel, and inept baddies and all one can say is, “The Dude abides.”
Blazing Saddles (1974): This Mel Brooks classic is both hated and beloved. Those who don’t like it say it’s broad and crude; its defenders (such as I) applaud its dark lampoon of westerns, its silly songs, and its anarchic qualities. Some parts might offend the terminally PC, but Brooks wanted you to see the ridiculousness of ethnic stereotyping.
Brazil (1985): Can dystopia be funny? In the hands of Terry Gilliam, the cartoonist for Monty Python, nothing is sacred. Some have called Brazil a colossal mess; others a send-up of 1984. Put me in the second category. It’s amazing how funny ductworks can be. Ditto consumerism gone mad. For the record, it has zilch to do with its namesake country.
The Castle (1997): “What do you call this?” asks Darryl Kerrigan. “Chicken,” replies his wife, Sal. “Ahh, but it’s what you’ve done with it,” Darryl replies. He’s a simple man whose "castle” lies at the end of an airport runway and he doesn’t want to part with it. Take every bit of logic, turn it upside down, and you’re still short of the hysterics embedded in this Australian comedy. How about lines like, “Dad’s even more proud of him now than when he was in jail!” You’ll be singing, “We’re going to Bonny Doon” when this one ends. This might be my favorite offbeat film.
Comfort and Joy (1984): Pathos and absurdity mix in this Bill Forsyth film set in Glasgow. Can a break up film be a feel-good Christmas movie? Aye, lads and lassies. Bill Paterson is a DJ trying to recover his mojo. He proves what dribble AM radio can be. Queue Mr. Bunny and an ice cream war.
Delicatessen (1991): You have to have an abiding love for the offbeat to watch a comedy about cannibalism. This post-apocalyptic French film directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet is practically a Gallic Sweeney Todd. Believe it or not, it’s preposterous and wacky, its subject matter notwithstanding. Hey, a guy’s gotta eat.
Duck Soup (1933): All Marx Brothers films are blueprints for absurdist comedy, though Duck Soup is my favorite. If you think about it, puffed-up leaders, militarism, and war are absurd to their very core. The battlefield costume changes alone are worth the price of admission. Ditto Harpo walking through an active battle zone with a “Help Wanted” sign.
Eagle vs Shark (2007): This was Taika Waititi’s first film. It’s uneven, but who mixes cosplay, geeks, a singer who fails to connect, and fast food with Claymation interludes? Love and sex in the Land of the Weird.
Fargo (1996): “Ahh, jeez Marge, you gotta have your breakfast.” Forget the TV show; this Coen Brothers black comedy makes a wood chipper murder victim seem funny–in a twisted way. Anything with Frances McDormand, the Queen of Droll, is worth watching.
A Fish Called Wanda (1988): Stars John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. It’s obstensibly a double-cross heist film with Monty Python qualities. It features Cleese as a bumbling Lothario. That alone is funny!
Hunt for the Wilder People (2016): This film from New Zealand director Taika Waititi is a comedy-drama shot through with absurdism. Ricky, a foster child, and Hector, a cranky survivalist, hightail it through the New Zealand bush with child services in pursuit. You meet a lot of wacko people in the middle of the wilderness. This one is funny, but also poignant and sad in places. It’s unorthodox throughout.
The Jerk (1979): “Waiter, take this away and bring us some new wine.” This Steve Martin vehicle is a screamfest of looniness from start to finish. Carl Reiner directed this tale of love among the reality challenged, a dog named Shithead, and an invention gone wrong.
The Lobster (1995): This pan-European surrealist black comedy takes us to a future society in which unmarried people get 45 days to tie the knot or they are turned into animals. And you thought the dating scene was fraught with trauma! It might sound stupid, but it won the Jury Prize at Cannes, sports an all-star cast, and how-did-they-come-up-with-that turns.
Local Hero (1983): This film established Bill Forsyth’s reputation for showing Scotland as both charming and strange. Offshore oil sends a Yank from Houston to a remote Highlands village to forge a business deal. Mythic elements and a lilting brogue add to city slicker versus country bumpkin play acting.
Malcolm (1986): There’s nothing like a flaky inventor to stir things up, especially one with a childlike imagination who’s pretty far along the spectrum and whose love of trams leads to law-breaking. This unusual Australian comedy also advanced the career of the Penguin Café Orchestra.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975): Another Terry Gilliam directorial effort that turns King Arthur legends on their collective heads. If you’ve never seen it, watch zis film or I will have to taunt you again. Coconut shell horses, Castle Anthrax, a Trojan Rabbit, the Holy Grenade of Antioch, and the Knights Who Say “Ni” are among the things you’ll encounter.
O, Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000): Another Coen brothers’ film, this one starring George Clooney. Some viewers didn’t get its humor, but it makes a lot sense–well nonsense–if you brush up on your Homer and know that it’s mostly a parody of The Odyssey set during the Great Depression. Be “the one the capacity for abstract thought” and enjoy this film. Wonderful soundtrack as well.
The Adventure of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994): It’s as if the Aussies have a near stranglehold on oddball comedy. How about a drag queen road trip comedy set in the Outback? It sure is an antidote to Mad Max.
Rushmore (1998): Wes Anderson often drives me to distraction because most of his films are half brilliant and half of a lazy college sophomore’s term paper. Rushmore is his most complete venture into eccentricity. Jason Schwartzman is a 15-year-old kid who’s part huckster, part genius, and part spawn of Satan. This film also rebooted Bill Murray’s career as a laconic character that he can’t be bothered with what makes sense.
Rob Weir
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