Sunday, April 18, 2010
REMAKES
Today's movie is the first of the Michel Gondry films that I have queued up.
with Mos Def, Jack Black, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow and Melonie Diaz.
I wanted to see all of Gondry's films because I enjoyed the antic Science of Sleep so much.
I am on to something here. This film is as magical and funny as the other.
It is a situation comedy holding up a concept of making short film skits out of "famous" movies.
The process and execution are hilarious.
These in turn set us up for a larger film production, an original, the life of Fats Waller. As the guys imagine it.
How they get into this enterprise and at the same time how they manage to keep their video store building from demolition provide even more levels of comedic and melodramatic possibilities. All of area ably exploited by Gondry and his cast.
The film is written and directed by Gondry who is French. His word play with his adopted language is quite amazing. He has a child's kind of enjoyment of nonsense. I really like his style.
And, I am very impressed with Mos Def who plays a sort of smart Step'n'fetchit character. He is cool. But he is not too smart. It takes awhile for him to get it but when he does, look out!
Jack Black is throttled down a bit which is fine with me. I sometimes get too much of him although I have enjoyed most of the films that I have seen him in when I think of it.
Mia Farrow is beautiful. Danny Glover is a saint.
This is a fine, very satisfying film. Funny as hell with a great underlying story(s) and all ties together beautifully at the end.
The film was made in Passaic NJ with a lot of real people on site. Real locations. And get this. There is not one, not one, four letter word in this film. No one has sex. It is a clean machine. There is not even a fart joke.
I am going to give this one a 5 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
