Relative Strangers

Relative Strangers

Garlin Pictures etc.

May 1, 2006

Comedy
DVD
C

I gave this 20 minutes because of the cast, but I have to admit that I started to lose interest when DeVito and Bates showed up as the crude bio-parents.  Greg Glienna directed and co-wrote.

My First Mister

My First Mister

Paramount

October 26, 2001

Dramedy

DVD
C-

One of those movies where I care more about the side characters (in this case the goth girl's mom and stepdad) than the main characters, and not enough.  Christine Lahti directed.

The Meddler

The Meddler

Sony Pictures etc.

April 22, 2016

Dramedy
DVD
C-

A good cast can't get past the weak script, by director Lorene Scafaria, who did the equally weak Hustlers three years later.

Clue

Clue

Paramount
December 13, 1985
Historical Comedy, Crime Comedy
DVD
B-

So, I sort of remember this movie from the time, in that I remember what a critical and commercial failure it was and how I didn't see it in the theater partly because of that, and partly because I thought I'd have to go three times for all the endings, and that seemed like a rip-off.  So I caught it on cable, maybe all at once, maybe in bits and pieces.  I liked it and vaguely remembered it, but I haven't watched it in, oh, I'm going to say thirty years.

It would probably be a C+ without its game (pun intended) and very recognizable (to me) cast.  (I have to omit Kellye Nakahara, but I was delighted to see her outside of M*A*S*H.)  The story does drag a bit, especially during the "splitting up in pairs" part, but there's enough amusement and, yes, intrigue that it mostly held my interest throughout.  I also like the use of 1954-appropriate songs, like "Sh-Boom," and the bit of political satire.  Note that this is sort of the second movie I've reviewed where Michael McKean plays gay, unless you count ending #3.

John Landis co-wrote the story and this was Jonathan Lynn's first directorial gig (seven years before the much more acclaimed My Cousin Vinny).

Best in Show

Best in Show
Warner Bros.
October 20, 2000
Mockumentary
DVD
B

Guest directed and with Levy co-wrote this movie, and the two of them play two of the main characters in it, although each set of dogs & owners gets moments in the spotlight.  I saw this movie at the time and maybe once again in the intervening almost twenty years, and I do think it holds up well, in both humor and story-- all the more impressive considering how much of it was improvised-- but I don't think it has the extra oomph that This Is Spinal Tap (1984, and reviewed here https://reviewingeverymovieiown.blogspot.com/2014/11/this-is-spinal-tap.html) has.  By the way, I think Begley's reference here to a rock band he can't say by name is a Spinal Tap joke. 

I actually forgot which dog won and thought it was Hubert the Hound, but it makes narrative sense for it to be the Flecks' Winky, because that family, especially Gerry (Levy's character), are most the (sorry) underdogs.  And the funniest performance here is Larry Miller's cameo as one of O'Hara's many exes, which surprised me because his humor can be hit or miss for me.  The "not the same Starbucks" line remains classic.

I had to leave Patrick Cranshaw out of the crowded tags, but I will note that he was then 80 and had been playing old men for about thirty years, like on Mork & Mindy.