DARK COMEDIES FOR A DARK HOLIDAY
Originally published in 2003.
Halloween is not one of my favourite holidays because although getting dressed up can be fun, I don’t see the point in parading innocent children around in uncomfortable costumes for the sole purpose of harassing complete strangers for candy. Apart from that, Halloween is a celebration of the darker side of human reality, which is something I’m not sure we should be celebrating. But, far be it from me to be the Grinch of Halloween. And since Halloween is a celebration of the dark, I decided to focus in this article on films that explore the dark side of human nature – but explore it from a comedic perspective, because as far as I'm concerned, if you’re going to go down that dark road, you may as well have a chuckle along the way.
The difficulty in putting together a list of superb dark comedies is the reality that humour is so extremely personal, because, as we all know, one man’s comedy is another man’s drama. There’s also the reality that even good comedy can get stale very quickly – what was considered dark and funny back then, isn’t necessarily that dark or that funny today. Despite these challenges, I’ve attempted to put together a selection of some of my favourite dark comedies. Some of these are more on the comedic side, than the dark side; and some are more on the dark side, than the comedic side. But all of them showcase the uglier and less appealing elements of human nature: greed, envy, lust, hatred, tyranny, obsession - the stuff that makes compelling drama, and in the right hands, great comedy.
THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940)
Although you can’t get much funnier than Chaplin, you can't get any darker than the Holocaust which is why it’s a miracle that this film works because comedy is not something that anybody would associate with the Holocaust; and rightly so. However, Chaplin’s intention is to satirize one of the most hated and ruthless men of the 20th century and he does so brilliantly with The Great Dictator. At a time when few were speaking out about Hitler and his agenda, Chaplin courageously took a path that few would - choosing the most unlikely of weapons: humour. And humour, in a way, is the perfect weapon because what better way to attack a tyrant than to laugh at them and expose how truly foolish they are. Physical comedy doesn’t normally appeal to me, but Chaplin is one of its undisputed masters, and in his hands, it becomes an art form. Extremely well acted and well executed, The Great Dictator is a glimpse at the darkest chapter of the 20th century and a hilarious look at how truly repulsive and frightening human nature can be.
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944)
If there was ever a comedy to be made about a family of serial killers, this is it. Directed by Frank Capra (who is more known for his feel good, life affirming films such as It’s A Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), Arsenic and Old Lace is a delightful dark comedy about a man, played by the legendary Cary Grant, who discovers that his relatives have taken up a deadly hobby. Grant has rarely been better and his comic timing is truly remarkable, especially when you consider that he’s playing the straight man among a group of eccentrics. In addition, the movie is directed with such charm and wit, that you forget the subject matter you’re dealing with. Combining a funny and clever script with great performances all around - Arsenic and Old Lace is a comedy gem from Hollywood’s past that demonstrates how the road to hell is often paved with good intentions.
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951)
Hitchcock is one of the few filmmakers in history whose craftsmanship is so unique and so well recognized that he has become his own genre - i.e. there are thrillers and then there are Hitchcock thrillers. This might seem like a strange choice for a dark comedy because people usually associate Hitchcock with suspense thrillers. But, if you watch carefully, there’s always some sly bit of dark wit sprinkled throughout his body of work. And of all Hitchcock’s thrillers, this story about the meeting of two strangers on a train, which results in murder, is one of his funniest. In fact, Strangers on a Train is full of such deliciously dark wit that it’s hard not to think of it as a dark comedy. True, like much of Hitchcock’s work, there is also plenty of melodrama, but Hitchcock crafts a thriller so well that you either forgive the melodrama or get caught up in it. Wickedly funny, with one of the best murder scenes ever filmed, it will show you what a great sense of humour Hitchcock really had and teach you about the danger of talking to strangers.
IT’S A MAD MAD MAD WORLD (1963)
Before there was 2001’s Rat Race, there was It's a Mad Mad Mad World - a hilarious comedy that explores the dark side of human nature known as greed. When a group of strangers stumble upon some information about a large sum of money buried below a giant "W" in Santa Rosita, the result is pure comic mayhem as each of them tries to get to the money first. The comedy is sometimes a little too broad and slapstick for my taste, but there are so many great characterizations that you get completely caught up in the story and invested in the race's outcome. A clever idea, made all the more appealing by great performances, It’s a Mad Mad Mad World is a hysterical look at how funny greed can be.
DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
It’s amazing that this film got made when it did. Released during the height of the Cold War, this comedy classic, from Stanley Kubrick, still holds up as one of the funniest and most relevant satires in recent memory. The key to satire is finding just the right distance from the truth to make the subject matter funny. If it’s too far from the truth, it’s too exaggerated and becomes too implausible and too obvious to be funny. If it's too close to the truth, the comedy is lost and the piece is taken at face value. If it’s just the right distance, the result can be pure comic gold, as demonstrated by this landmark film. Now there are times, Dr. Strangelove is too exaggerated for my tastes, but for the most part, the film is so well executed that it almost makes the absurd seem plausible: demonstrating how ridiculous national paranoia can be and how far it can go - still a very relevant theme today. Much is said about Peter Sellers, who does a superb job playing not only one, but three characters; however George C. Scott's comic performance is absolutely flawless and he alone is reason enough to see this Kubrick classic.
RAISING ARIZONA (1987)
One of these days I would like to devote an entire article to the films of Nicolas Cage who I consider one of the best actors of all time. It's rare to find an actor who can do both comedy and drama with such equal proficiency. Many think I'm completely misguided in my admiration for Cage, but I think his body of work speaks for itself. Anybody who can pull off both Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation with such staggering success is a true master of their craft. In Raising Arizona, Cage is once again at the top of his form, playing an ex-con who falls in love with an ex-cop – played exceptionally well by Holly Hunter. The young couple decides to get married and raise a family. There’s only one problem: they cannot have children. Their solution is to kidnap one of a set of quintuplets because, according to their reasoning, someone who has five children won't miss one. The result is a real comic tour de force as we are taken on a wild, surreal ride through the bizarre and offbeat world of the Coen Brothers’ imagination.
A FISH CALLED WANDA (1988)
This is one of the funniest comedies of the 80’s - a wonderful caper film about a group of dysfunctional diamond thieves who aren't completely successful with their latest heist. Subsequently, one member of the group is arrested, but only he (and one other member of the group) knows where the diamonds are hidden. The remaining two members, played by Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline, try desperately to find the diamonds and keep the loot for themselves. With enough back stabbing and double crossing to put even Melrose Place to shame, A Fish Called Wanda’s true strength is its stellar performances, especially from actor Kevin Kline who richly deserved his Oscar win for this role.
RESERVOIR DOGS (1992)
This film marks the debut of Quentin Tarantino, one of the true masters of dark comic writing. A former video store clerk, he is now one of the most imitated and celebrated filmmakers of our time. Reservoir Dogs is the story about five would be diamond thieves who know each other only through pseudonyms. They attempt a diamond heist that goes disastrously wrong resulting in a number of deaths. Coming to the conclusion that there’s a mole among them, the remaining members of the group attempt to single him out and exact revenge. This is the film that really introduced us to Tarantino’s genius because the story and script are so fresh and so well crafted, its advent created a wave of excitement throughout the movie going public – announcing the arrival of a promising new talent. Combining non-linear story techniques with superb comic dialogue, this little gem deserved just as much attention as Pulp Fiction, if not more.
TRUE ROMANCE (1993)
I have written about True Romance before, but this is one film that deserves to be plugged again and again, because of all Tarantino’s work, this is my favourite. And although he’s not the director of True Romance, as author of its script, his brilliant dark comic wit is unmistakably present in every frame. What I admire about True Romance is how the violence never supercedes the story. Even though this is a very violent film, the violence is always in service to the story and not the other way around. In addition, the violence is never made to be funny, even though the situations that surround the violence are quite funny. This is also due to the talents of director Tony Scott who does an excellent job of interpreting Tarantino’s script, making it into a 90’s reincarnation of Bonnie and Clyde. With an incredibly talented cast, including: Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Val Kilmer and Brad Pitt, this dark comic milestone definitely deserved more attention than Pulp Fiction.
PULP FICTION (1994)
Tarantino is one of the few writers who can get away with films purely driven by dialogue. His writing of dialogue is so insightful, so clever and so witty, that it truly takes on a life of its own, independent of the plot. To the point that, even if there were no plot, we would still be thoroughly entertained – as evidenced by Pulp Fiction: the most celebrated of Tarantino’s body of work. A thoroughly engrossing dark, action/adventure comedy, Pulp Fiction solidified Tarantino as a major Hollywood talent. Not only did this film win the Palme D’Or at Cannes – it revived John Travolta’s career, and even more incredibly, it actually inspired a good performance from actor Bruce Willis. What I love about Pulp Fiction is that, for the most part, it’s really about nothing – it’s simply Tarantino having fun with the medium of film, which is fantastic because it’s so enjoyable to watch. However, it becomes problematic when during the third act, Tarantino departs from this approach and turns Pulp Fiction into a film about something, making the statement that violence is funny. So suddenly it becomes a message movie with the wrong kind of message and it becomes a story about violence rather than just a story that happens to be violent. This is unfortunate, because for the most part, Pulp Fiction is so completely entertaining, that I desperately want to deny and ignore my misgivings about the third act.
FARGO (1996)
Tarantino may be one of the modern artisans of dark comedy, but he’s definitely not the only one, as evidenced by the Coen brothers’ Oscar nominated film, Fargo. While Tarantino has fun with the medium of film, the Coen brothers don’t fool around, going straight for the jugular to create one of the most shocking and unpredictable dark comedies of all time. At the heart of it, is a truly original female lead character brought brilliantly to life by Frances McDormand, who plays the part to near perfection. William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi also deliver great performances giving us a dark glimpse of characters we rarely see on film. However, despite it’s considerable strengths, I have one major problem with Fargo, which is similar to the problem I have with Pulp Fiction. During Fargo’s third act, the violence supercedes the story to the point that the story starts to serve the violence rather than the violence serving the story. In this way, the film ends up becoming a celebration and glorification of violence. For instance, was that wood chipper scene really necessary? Still, there’s enough superb writing and fine performances to justify all the acclaim this film has received.
PSYCHO BEACH PARTY (2000)
This is the least known film on the list, but it’s definitely one that movie lovers should not ignore. Part 60’s style Gidget surfer movie, part slasher/horror thriller; Psycho Beach Party is one of the most wonderfully offbeat, dark comedies I’ve seen in recent years. The blending of genres is truly inspired and the fun that the cast has with the script is extremely infectious. It’s hard to satirize genres that satirize themselves, but the filmmakers do a fine job poking fun at dialogue and plot conventions that are all too familiar. Extremely clever and deliciously campy, Psycho Beach Party is one of the funniest movie going experiences of 2000.
THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE (2001)
Out of all the Coen brothers’ films, this is my favourite, and it establishes them in my book as two of the most talented filmmakers of all time. Released in 2001 and grossly underrated, this dark comic gem is just a hair away from being a complete and utter masterpiece - and this is no hyperbole! Beautifully shot, it stars the extremely gifted Billy Bob Thornton, who plays a sympathetic loser that allows almost everyone in his life to walk all over him and take advantage of him. One day he decides to change all that, but things don’t go exactly how he planned, and the result is one of the most inspired dark comedies of all time with moments of sheer comic genius – moments that had me marveling at the imagination and wit of the writers/directors. Despite this, the Coen Brothers desperately need to go back to the editing room and re-cut the third act. The third act is the one thing they need to change in order to make this a masterpiece, as it is far too long and feels like it has too many endings. I feel so strongly about this I almost want to start a petition because I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited and so frustrated by movie at the same time – excited because I have witnessed pure comic genius - frustrated because it’s so close to being perfect it’s painful.
3000 MILES TO GRACELAND (2001)
Released in 2001, 3000 Miles to Graceland got panned by almost every critic in North America - and every one of them is dead wrong, because this is simply one of the funniest and most innovative dark comic crime thrillers since Reservoir Dogs. Kevin Costner plays the ringleader of a group of thieves who target some of the wealthiest casinos in Las Vegas. Dressing up as Elvis impersonators, they make off with millions of dollars. All seems to be going well, until there’s some disagreement on how the earnings are to be divided. What ensues is one of the funniest and most stylized action thrillers to come along in quite awhile. Even the visuals have an innovative comic life and energy of their own. Apart from that, Kevin Costner gives the very best performance of his career, finding one of the most original, unique and interesting ways to play, what could have been a very cliché and boring, villain. His performance is so good that his character is one you’ll never forget.
ADAPTATION (2002)
It’s hard to underestimate the brilliance of Adaptation’s script, because rarely have I seen the eternal represented on film - as the story of Adaptation endlessly folds in on itself to the point that the film seems strangely frozen in time, with no clear beginning or end. This is a remarkable feat from the filmmakers who first brought us Being John Malkovich – a film that merely hinted at their comic genius. Now, with Adaptation, there’s just no denying it. For not only did they conceive a brilliant idea and develop it into a remarkable script, they also found the most gifted of actors to bring their story to life - actors that perfectly reflected the genius of their words. With such an amazing script in the hands of such awesome talent as Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper and Nicolas Cage, how could this film possibly fail?
CHICAGO (2002)
2002's Oscar winner for best picture is not only of the best musicals of all time, it’s one of the best dark comedies of all time – an extremely clever and entertaining satire about murder and the nature of modern media. In a world that glorifies murderers, Chicago is the story about a woman, played by Renee Zellweger, who will do just about anything for fame and fortune. With a remarkable Oscar worthy score and great performances from almost everyone in the entire cast, especially Zellweger, it’s amazing how a movie about such ruthless and unscrupulous people, can still be so thoroughly fun and enjoyable.
Halloween is not one of my favourite holidays because although getting dressed up can be fun, I don’t see the point in parading innocent children around in uncomfortable costumes for the sole purpose of harassing complete strangers for candy. Apart from that, Halloween is a celebration of the darker side of human reality, which is something I’m not sure we should be celebrating. But, far be it from me to be the Grinch of Halloween. And since Halloween is a celebration of the dark, I decided to focus in this article on films that explore the dark side of human nature – but explore it from a comedic perspective, because as far as I'm concerned, if you’re going to go down that dark road, you may as well have a chuckle along the way.
The difficulty in putting together a list of superb dark comedies is the reality that humour is so extremely personal, because, as we all know, one man’s comedy is another man’s drama. There’s also the reality that even good comedy can get stale very quickly – what was considered dark and funny back then, isn’t necessarily that dark or that funny today. Despite these challenges, I’ve attempted to put together a selection of some of my favourite dark comedies. Some of these are more on the comedic side, than the dark side; and some are more on the dark side, than the comedic side. But all of them showcase the uglier and less appealing elements of human nature: greed, envy, lust, hatred, tyranny, obsession - the stuff that makes compelling drama, and in the right hands, great comedy.
THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940)
Although you can’t get much funnier than Chaplin, you can't get any darker than the Holocaust which is why it’s a miracle that this film works because comedy is not something that anybody would associate with the Holocaust; and rightly so. However, Chaplin’s intention is to satirize one of the most hated and ruthless men of the 20th century and he does so brilliantly with The Great Dictator. At a time when few were speaking out about Hitler and his agenda, Chaplin courageously took a path that few would - choosing the most unlikely of weapons: humour. And humour, in a way, is the perfect weapon because what better way to attack a tyrant than to laugh at them and expose how truly foolish they are. Physical comedy doesn’t normally appeal to me, but Chaplin is one of its undisputed masters, and in his hands, it becomes an art form. Extremely well acted and well executed, The Great Dictator is a glimpse at the darkest chapter of the 20th century and a hilarious look at how truly repulsive and frightening human nature can be.
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944)
If there was ever a comedy to be made about a family of serial killers, this is it. Directed by Frank Capra (who is more known for his feel good, life affirming films such as It’s A Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), Arsenic and Old Lace is a delightful dark comedy about a man, played by the legendary Cary Grant, who discovers that his relatives have taken up a deadly hobby. Grant has rarely been better and his comic timing is truly remarkable, especially when you consider that he’s playing the straight man among a group of eccentrics. In addition, the movie is directed with such charm and wit, that you forget the subject matter you’re dealing with. Combining a funny and clever script with great performances all around - Arsenic and Old Lace is a comedy gem from Hollywood’s past that demonstrates how the road to hell is often paved with good intentions.
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951)
Hitchcock is one of the few filmmakers in history whose craftsmanship is so unique and so well recognized that he has become his own genre - i.e. there are thrillers and then there are Hitchcock thrillers. This might seem like a strange choice for a dark comedy because people usually associate Hitchcock with suspense thrillers. But, if you watch carefully, there’s always some sly bit of dark wit sprinkled throughout his body of work. And of all Hitchcock’s thrillers, this story about the meeting of two strangers on a train, which results in murder, is one of his funniest. In fact, Strangers on a Train is full of such deliciously dark wit that it’s hard not to think of it as a dark comedy. True, like much of Hitchcock’s work, there is also plenty of melodrama, but Hitchcock crafts a thriller so well that you either forgive the melodrama or get caught up in it. Wickedly funny, with one of the best murder scenes ever filmed, it will show you what a great sense of humour Hitchcock really had and teach you about the danger of talking to strangers.
IT’S A MAD MAD MAD WORLD (1963)
Before there was 2001’s Rat Race, there was It's a Mad Mad Mad World - a hilarious comedy that explores the dark side of human nature known as greed. When a group of strangers stumble upon some information about a large sum of money buried below a giant "W" in Santa Rosita, the result is pure comic mayhem as each of them tries to get to the money first. The comedy is sometimes a little too broad and slapstick for my taste, but there are so many great characterizations that you get completely caught up in the story and invested in the race's outcome. A clever idea, made all the more appealing by great performances, It’s a Mad Mad Mad World is a hysterical look at how funny greed can be.
DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
It’s amazing that this film got made when it did. Released during the height of the Cold War, this comedy classic, from Stanley Kubrick, still holds up as one of the funniest and most relevant satires in recent memory. The key to satire is finding just the right distance from the truth to make the subject matter funny. If it’s too far from the truth, it’s too exaggerated and becomes too implausible and too obvious to be funny. If it's too close to the truth, the comedy is lost and the piece is taken at face value. If it’s just the right distance, the result can be pure comic gold, as demonstrated by this landmark film. Now there are times, Dr. Strangelove is too exaggerated for my tastes, but for the most part, the film is so well executed that it almost makes the absurd seem plausible: demonstrating how ridiculous national paranoia can be and how far it can go - still a very relevant theme today. Much is said about Peter Sellers, who does a superb job playing not only one, but three characters; however George C. Scott's comic performance is absolutely flawless and he alone is reason enough to see this Kubrick classic.
RAISING ARIZONA (1987)
One of these days I would like to devote an entire article to the films of Nicolas Cage who I consider one of the best actors of all time. It's rare to find an actor who can do both comedy and drama with such equal proficiency. Many think I'm completely misguided in my admiration for Cage, but I think his body of work speaks for itself. Anybody who can pull off both Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation with such staggering success is a true master of their craft. In Raising Arizona, Cage is once again at the top of his form, playing an ex-con who falls in love with an ex-cop – played exceptionally well by Holly Hunter. The young couple decides to get married and raise a family. There’s only one problem: they cannot have children. Their solution is to kidnap one of a set of quintuplets because, according to their reasoning, someone who has five children won't miss one. The result is a real comic tour de force as we are taken on a wild, surreal ride through the bizarre and offbeat world of the Coen Brothers’ imagination.
A FISH CALLED WANDA (1988)
This is one of the funniest comedies of the 80’s - a wonderful caper film about a group of dysfunctional diamond thieves who aren't completely successful with their latest heist. Subsequently, one member of the group is arrested, but only he (and one other member of the group) knows where the diamonds are hidden. The remaining two members, played by Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline, try desperately to find the diamonds and keep the loot for themselves. With enough back stabbing and double crossing to put even Melrose Place to shame, A Fish Called Wanda’s true strength is its stellar performances, especially from actor Kevin Kline who richly deserved his Oscar win for this role.
RESERVOIR DOGS (1992)
This film marks the debut of Quentin Tarantino, one of the true masters of dark comic writing. A former video store clerk, he is now one of the most imitated and celebrated filmmakers of our time. Reservoir Dogs is the story about five would be diamond thieves who know each other only through pseudonyms. They attempt a diamond heist that goes disastrously wrong resulting in a number of deaths. Coming to the conclusion that there’s a mole among them, the remaining members of the group attempt to single him out and exact revenge. This is the film that really introduced us to Tarantino’s genius because the story and script are so fresh and so well crafted, its advent created a wave of excitement throughout the movie going public – announcing the arrival of a promising new talent. Combining non-linear story techniques with superb comic dialogue, this little gem deserved just as much attention as Pulp Fiction, if not more.
TRUE ROMANCE (1993)
I have written about True Romance before, but this is one film that deserves to be plugged again and again, because of all Tarantino’s work, this is my favourite. And although he’s not the director of True Romance, as author of its script, his brilliant dark comic wit is unmistakably present in every frame. What I admire about True Romance is how the violence never supercedes the story. Even though this is a very violent film, the violence is always in service to the story and not the other way around. In addition, the violence is never made to be funny, even though the situations that surround the violence are quite funny. This is also due to the talents of director Tony Scott who does an excellent job of interpreting Tarantino’s script, making it into a 90’s reincarnation of Bonnie and Clyde. With an incredibly talented cast, including: Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Val Kilmer and Brad Pitt, this dark comic milestone definitely deserved more attention than Pulp Fiction.
PULP FICTION (1994)
Tarantino is one of the few writers who can get away with films purely driven by dialogue. His writing of dialogue is so insightful, so clever and so witty, that it truly takes on a life of its own, independent of the plot. To the point that, even if there were no plot, we would still be thoroughly entertained – as evidenced by Pulp Fiction: the most celebrated of Tarantino’s body of work. A thoroughly engrossing dark, action/adventure comedy, Pulp Fiction solidified Tarantino as a major Hollywood talent. Not only did this film win the Palme D’Or at Cannes – it revived John Travolta’s career, and even more incredibly, it actually inspired a good performance from actor Bruce Willis. What I love about Pulp Fiction is that, for the most part, it’s really about nothing – it’s simply Tarantino having fun with the medium of film, which is fantastic because it’s so enjoyable to watch. However, it becomes problematic when during the third act, Tarantino departs from this approach and turns Pulp Fiction into a film about something, making the statement that violence is funny. So suddenly it becomes a message movie with the wrong kind of message and it becomes a story about violence rather than just a story that happens to be violent. This is unfortunate, because for the most part, Pulp Fiction is so completely entertaining, that I desperately want to deny and ignore my misgivings about the third act.
FARGO (1996)
Tarantino may be one of the modern artisans of dark comedy, but he’s definitely not the only one, as evidenced by the Coen brothers’ Oscar nominated film, Fargo. While Tarantino has fun with the medium of film, the Coen brothers don’t fool around, going straight for the jugular to create one of the most shocking and unpredictable dark comedies of all time. At the heart of it, is a truly original female lead character brought brilliantly to life by Frances McDormand, who plays the part to near perfection. William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi also deliver great performances giving us a dark glimpse of characters we rarely see on film. However, despite it’s considerable strengths, I have one major problem with Fargo, which is similar to the problem I have with Pulp Fiction. During Fargo’s third act, the violence supercedes the story to the point that the story starts to serve the violence rather than the violence serving the story. In this way, the film ends up becoming a celebration and glorification of violence. For instance, was that wood chipper scene really necessary? Still, there’s enough superb writing and fine performances to justify all the acclaim this film has received.
PSYCHO BEACH PARTY (2000)
This is the least known film on the list, but it’s definitely one that movie lovers should not ignore. Part 60’s style Gidget surfer movie, part slasher/horror thriller; Psycho Beach Party is one of the most wonderfully offbeat, dark comedies I’ve seen in recent years. The blending of genres is truly inspired and the fun that the cast has with the script is extremely infectious. It’s hard to satirize genres that satirize themselves, but the filmmakers do a fine job poking fun at dialogue and plot conventions that are all too familiar. Extremely clever and deliciously campy, Psycho Beach Party is one of the funniest movie going experiences of 2000.
THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE (2001)
Out of all the Coen brothers’ films, this is my favourite, and it establishes them in my book as two of the most talented filmmakers of all time. Released in 2001 and grossly underrated, this dark comic gem is just a hair away from being a complete and utter masterpiece - and this is no hyperbole! Beautifully shot, it stars the extremely gifted Billy Bob Thornton, who plays a sympathetic loser that allows almost everyone in his life to walk all over him and take advantage of him. One day he decides to change all that, but things don’t go exactly how he planned, and the result is one of the most inspired dark comedies of all time with moments of sheer comic genius – moments that had me marveling at the imagination and wit of the writers/directors. Despite this, the Coen Brothers desperately need to go back to the editing room and re-cut the third act. The third act is the one thing they need to change in order to make this a masterpiece, as it is far too long and feels like it has too many endings. I feel so strongly about this I almost want to start a petition because I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited and so frustrated by movie at the same time – excited because I have witnessed pure comic genius - frustrated because it’s so close to being perfect it’s painful.
3000 MILES TO GRACELAND (2001)
Released in 2001, 3000 Miles to Graceland got panned by almost every critic in North America - and every one of them is dead wrong, because this is simply one of the funniest and most innovative dark comic crime thrillers since Reservoir Dogs. Kevin Costner plays the ringleader of a group of thieves who target some of the wealthiest casinos in Las Vegas. Dressing up as Elvis impersonators, they make off with millions of dollars. All seems to be going well, until there’s some disagreement on how the earnings are to be divided. What ensues is one of the funniest and most stylized action thrillers to come along in quite awhile. Even the visuals have an innovative comic life and energy of their own. Apart from that, Kevin Costner gives the very best performance of his career, finding one of the most original, unique and interesting ways to play, what could have been a very cliché and boring, villain. His performance is so good that his character is one you’ll never forget.
ADAPTATION (2002)
It’s hard to underestimate the brilliance of Adaptation’s script, because rarely have I seen the eternal represented on film - as the story of Adaptation endlessly folds in on itself to the point that the film seems strangely frozen in time, with no clear beginning or end. This is a remarkable feat from the filmmakers who first brought us Being John Malkovich – a film that merely hinted at their comic genius. Now, with Adaptation, there’s just no denying it. For not only did they conceive a brilliant idea and develop it into a remarkable script, they also found the most gifted of actors to bring their story to life - actors that perfectly reflected the genius of their words. With such an amazing script in the hands of such awesome talent as Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper and Nicolas Cage, how could this film possibly fail?
CHICAGO (2002)
2002's Oscar winner for best picture is not only of the best musicals of all time, it’s one of the best dark comedies of all time – an extremely clever and entertaining satire about murder and the nature of modern media. In a world that glorifies murderers, Chicago is the story about a woman, played by Renee Zellweger, who will do just about anything for fame and fortune. With a remarkable Oscar worthy score and great performances from almost everyone in the entire cast, especially Zellweger, it’s amazing how a movie about such ruthless and unscrupulous people, can still be so thoroughly fun and enjoyable.
posted by Rix Flix at 1:11 AM
1 Comments:
CHICAGO?? Ugggggggghhhhhhhhh, wellllll uggghh...
I dunno about that one... uggghhhh
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