Movies that are supposed to be funny
There are a few movies lately that I started watching but didn’t finish. They were all supposed to be comedies but I didn’t find them funny.
It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
This is a 1963 movie in which a dying thief tells the people around him where a lot of money is (that he stole and then hid). Those people then race to get the money. Although the actors were big stars of the time (Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman, and more), it’s just not funny. A lot of scenes of cars driving on the road and people standing around arguing. Scenes of fighting and destruction are supposed to be funny: if you’re a fan of slapstick, you might like it better than me.
Evil Roy Slade
This is a 1972 TV movie that takes place in the old west. A man (John Astin) who has been a villain his whole life tries to change in order to win the hand of a woman (she was one of the customers in a bank he robbed). This movie also has some big stars in it (Milton Berle, Mickey Rooney, Dom DeLuise). A psychologist is trying to help Slade become good, and meanwhile a railroad tycoon Slade robbed is trying to get revenge on him. It’s very silly.
After Hours
This is a 1985 movie, directed by Martin Scorsese, in which a regular guy (Griffin Dunne) spends a night encountering bizarre characters and absurd situations. I watched more of this one than the others — the beginning actually had some funny parts, but then it became not-so-funny. When bad things kept happening to him over and over, I finally had enough — when people at a club tried to give him a Mohawk haircut against his will, that’s when I stopped watching.
Duplex
This is a 2003 movie starring Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore. I like those actors but they weren’t able to rescue the script. The main characters move into a duplex and at first it seems like things will be perfect. But the little old lady who lives upstairs is not as sweet as she looks. This is another movie where bad things keep happening over and over — you can tell right away it’s going to be that kind of movie. When we’re asked to laugh at someone’s misfortune, I don’t find it funny.