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DVD REVIEW FOR
"THE IMPOSTORS"

(1998) (Stanley Tucci, Oliver Platt) (R)

Length Screen Format(s) Languages Subtitles Sound Sides
101 minutes Letterbox (2.35:1) English
French
English
Spanish
Dolby Digital 2.0 1

PLOT & PARENTAL REVIEW

VIDEO:
(A+) This is yet another great looking disc from Fox. The picture is consistently sharp with plenty of detail, and the purposefully warm color palette (to give the film that "old timey" look) is gorgeous.
AUDIO:
(A) Despite appearing only in the standard Dolby Surround mode (instead of the newer Dolby Digital), the audio track sounds quite good, from the fun, period-style score to the occasional sound effects (gun shot, fireworks, etc...), the disc sounds good and easily delivers what's required of it here.
EXTRAS:
  • Scene selection/Jump to any scene.
  • Theatrical trailer.
  • Cast & Crew filmographies and biographies (onscreen text).
  • COMMENTS:
    In 1996 and tackling the multitasking positions of writer, director and performer, actor Stanley Tucci -- along with co-director Campbell Scott -- delivered a sumptuous feast of a movie, "Big Night." Not only did the film manage to spur one's appetite for fine food, but with its subtle performances and creative filmmaking, it made one hungry for even more similarly constructed and sophisticated cinematic fare.

    For his second course, Tucci has decided to go for lite and fluffy with "The Impostors." A throwback to the physical screwball comedies of yesteryear, the film has its moments, but has to be viewed as something of a disappointment after having feasted on that other film. If one were to compare "Big Night" to dining at any five star restaurant, then "The Impostors" is the equivalent of wolfing down a burger and fries at McDonald's. While both are tasty in their own right, there's simply no comparison between the two.

    Of course, Tucci obviously didn't intend for the films to be of the same caliber, and this new genre he's tackled can often be downright fabulous if the material is handled correctly. One has to look no farther than the works of Chaplin, Keaton, or the Marx Brothers to see such films that have withstood the tests of time and are still as funny today as they were decades earlier.

    While "The Impostors" occasionally hits on some of its cylinders and delivers some funny material, for the most part it feels like a pale imitation of the works of those other masters of the silent and not always quiet screwball comedies. When first viewed in the theaters, some viewers seemed to find the proceedings quite funny, but it appeared that easily more than three quarters of the audience -- myself included -- sat in slightly amused or possibly even bored silence. Upon viewing the movie again, my opinion hasn't changed much.

    Somewhat reminiscent of parts of the Marx Brothers' classic, "A Night at the Opera," this film has most of the necessary ingredients to succeed in the genre, yet fails to make full use of them. Although lead actors Tucci and Stanley Platt are talented performers and give their slapstick style characters a full go, they never manage to capture the brilliant comic genius of a Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello or other famous partners known for such work.

    Similarly, while the film contains the requisite physical comedy and "near misses" involving the protagonists barely avoiding being "captured" by their pursuer(s), such moments never elicit the full belly laughs one would expect.

    Such "near miss" humor dates back to the days of 17th century French playwright Molière who perfected such physical humor in fabulous works like "Tartuffe," and has continued to entertain audiences for centuries since then when done right. Although Tucci has such material, the set-up, timing, and execution of those elements is unfortunately off just enough to keep them from being as funny as they could and should have been.

    That's not to say that, however, that there aren't some decent moments. The best comes during the initial opening scene where the two out of work actors go through a classic routine of simple misunderstandings that build into eventual, but comically inspired fisticuffs. Set to the traditional sounding score that often accompanied silent films in the 1920's and back, and interspersed with the film's credits that nicely separate the brief action, the dialogue free scene is done quite well.

    While the plot that follows and drives the rest of the film is amusing -- albeit simple -- in concept, and generally deals with the characters trying to elude others while dealing with discovering two sinister plots, I found that it just never manages to elicit as many laughs as it should.

    The performers, on the other hand, appear to be having the times of their lives as they overact and ham it up in obvious glee. Although there are too many total characters -- resulting in an overall diffused effect plus the waste/under use of talent such as Isabella Rossellini -- some of them stand out with their wacky and often funny performances.

    Although they don't rank up there with the comedic partner teams of classic screwball comedies, Stanley Tucci ("Deconstructing Harry," TV's "Murder One" ) and Oliver Platt ("Simon Birch," "Bulworth") are enjoyable in their respective roles. Playing the standard comic characters whose hunger and poverty and later survival instincts spur their actions, the two offer some fun, amusing, and occasionally humorous moments.

    Campbell Scott -- who appeared in and co-directed "Big Night" along with Tucci -- is a hoot as the German head steward, Meistrich, with an unrequited love for his female counterpart. While obviously playing the character for its stereotype -- similar to Mike Myers' "Saturday Night Live" creation, Dieter -- the effect is nonetheless quite funny. Likewise, the efforts of Billy Connolly ("Mrs. Brown") who plays the "manly" tennis pro, Alfred Molina ("Boogie Nights") as the English thespian blowhard, and Tony Shalhoub (TV's "Wings") as the scheming First Mate also provide some laughs.

    Less successful -- and unfortunately so -- is Steve Buscemi ("Armageddon") as a suicidal lounge singer, as well as Allison Janney ("Big Night") and Richard Jenkins ("Flirting With Disaster") as conniving partners who themselves, like many on the ship, are also impostors of sorts. For the most part, they, and the rest of the performers, all suffer from the film's bloated number of cast members.

    Simply put, beyond the main characters, none of the supporting ones are given enough time to fully develop comically, resulting in this film feeling like those similarly bloated "all star" pictures such as "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" where too many "cooks in the kitchen" spoiled the overall effect.

    Hard to dislike simply due to its overall lighthearted, whimsical and decidedly goofy nature, one only wishes the film were continuously as good as its silent movie-like opening, or as fun as the infectious dance number -- where the entire cast sashays and two-steps their way across and eventually off the ship and onto the sound stage hosting the set -- that plays under the closing credits.

    Regarding the DVD itself, the film looks and sounds great although the more picky of DVD afficionados won't like the Dolby Surround sound — instead of the newer Dolby Digital). With just the film's theatrical trailer and the standard cast and crew filmographies and biographies, fans of lots of supplemental material will also be disappointed with the offerings here.

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