I think most people criticize this movie because they haven't realized it's engineered for viewing while getting increasingly wasted. I was cold sober while watching it (since it's not an animated children's movie), so I was able to perceive the careful design behind the façade of rambling, slipshod filmmaking. These factors support my thesis:
- It has gratuitous sex and nudity. Not much, just enough to get the limbic system going when the filters are down. The same reason only gorgeous people appear in beer commercials.
- It's short. The 85-minute running time is the perfect duration from first drink to being ready for something more active, like dancing or playing Twister®.
- It's disjointed. The pacing of the apparently random leaps to different locations and characters slows to exactly match the brain's decreasing ability to track ideas. The surprising twists (sorry, don't want to give things away) happen about the point when something shocking is automatically funny, maximizing the humor response.
- Instead of tying up the ending, it unravels. The final minutes seem to let go of coherent storytelling. A sober mind wants answers to certain questions. The altered mind fills in the gaps by interpreting them as the ineffable aspects of a mystical experience. "Whoa!" the viewer thinks. "That was really DEEP!" Later, the viewer will report a meaningful, almost religious insight happened for them, although they won't quite be able to recall what it is.
I enjoyed this movie while sober, but apparently many people do not (enjoy it, that is). If you try watching it while not sober, let me know your results. As a final note, John Landis hasn't directed anything since this film released in 1998 (as "Susan's Plan"). Read into that what you will.
If you liked the movies below, you'll probably like this one (and visa versa):
- Get Shorty
- Grosse Pointe Blank
- I Love You To Death
- Throw Mama From The Train
Overall Rating: 6 (where 1=Worthless, 10=Fabulous)
Eight-Facet Info Rating, rated on a scale of 0 (None) to 4 (Lots!)):
|
