Comedy
Clerks II (2006)
Clerks IIUSA 2006
Director: Kevin Smith
After Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, everyone thought that Kevin Smith was done with his View Askew series (begun with Clerks in 1994), that he’d moved on to more mature work, born out of his new role as father. That more mature work was Jersey Girl; though an entertaining film, it wasn’t very successful at the box office. Thankfully, Smith returns to his origins and delivers a sharp and entertaining treatise on relationships and growing older.
Unsurprisingly, this film is more similar to Clerks than any of the other Askew films. Less slapstick than Mallrats or Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, less serious than Chasing Amy or Dogma, Clerks II is a good balance of funny dialogue and “dick and fart” jokes. The film feels like a sequel to Clerks, both in tone and content; this is impressive considering it was made 12 years later.
The acting is very good, with almost everyone putting in strong performances. Particularly notable are Rosario Dawson and Trevor Fehrman. Fehrman, relatively new to films, holds his own with veteran Dawson and the other cast. The only acting blip is Smith’s wife Jennifer Schwalbach who struggles a bit in a smaller role. There are also a number of funny cameos, both from Askew alumni and familiar TV faces.
Along with the cameos, there are several clever nods to the original Clerks. Smith plays it smart and limits the in-jokes, careful not to alienate anyone unfamiliar with his earlier work. This isn’t Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, after all. The production design is also very clever, with many funny products and signs in the background. This film will improve on multiple viewings.
I do have a few minor quibbles with the film, but they in no way diminished my viewing enjoyment. The working environment is fairly unrealistic, for one: since when do fast food restaurants only have four employees and customers who always have something smart or funny to say? Also, I would’ve liked to see more retail venting, as shown in the first Clerks. Some of the funniest moments came from Randall ripping into the occasional customer and this doesn’t happen as often in Clerks II.
All in all, Clerks II proves that Kevin Smith can still make funny, mature films, even if they’re filled with dick and fart jokes.
Colin Le SueurGood Bye Lenin! (2003)
Good Bye Lenin!Germany 2003
Director: Wolfgang Becker
Language: German
A recent trip to Berlin reminded me of two things: I needed to improve my German and that I REALLY needed to re-watch Good Bye Lenin!
Set in East Berlin at the time of the fall of the wall and the reunification of Germany, Good Bye Lenin! tells the story of Alex Kerner (Daniel Bruhl), a young man whose arrest at a protest coincides with his model socialist mother (Kathrin Sass) having a heart attack and slipping into a coma. Eight months later the wall no longer exists, East and West Germany are united and Frau Kerner wakes up. Warned that any excitement could kill her, Alex, along with his slightly less eager sister Ariane (Maria Simon), throws himself into recreating East Germany in his mother’s apartment…
Through the main plot device of Alex’s deception, Good Bye Lenin! skilfully and often humorously explores how this period of great excitement, uncertainty, trepidation and promise affected ordinary people whose lives were turned upside down overnight. Some, like Ariane, willingly accept the change – in quitting her studies for a job at Burger King she seems to embody the acceptance of capitalist values. Other, generally older, characters complain of being ‘sold down the river’ and enjoy recreating the past for the unsuspecting Frau Kerner because it reminds them of ‘how things used to be’. Alex’s viewpoint, I suspect, lies somewhere in between. He may enjoy the new freedom that comes with unification, but his increasingly farcical quest to ‘protect’ his mother from a united Germany (pretending the radio is broken and swapping labels on food packets swiftly becomes bribing children to substantiate his charade and filming fake news bulletins) seems to indicate that he, too, has difficulty in coming to terms with his new way of life and wishes to maintain a concrete link with his past.
As one might imagine, political and social tension is never far from the surface of this film and there are some moments of truly powerful impact, such as Alex confronting a hospital doctor about the exodus of skilled East Germans to the better-paid West and causing a scene when a bank teller refuses to accept his East German money. However,
Good Bye Lenin! is far from politically biased and it pokes fun at both sides – surely the West is about more than fast food and Coca Cola and the East has more to offer than crappy clothing and Trabants?
Scratch the surface of Good Bye Lenin! and, as is so often the case, you are left with a story about people. Love, both romantic and familial, is a central theme and motivates Alex throughout. Deception figures strongly too, with Alex attempting to protect his mother from the truth, his mother (as is revealed in a heartbreaking plot twist) having deceived her children about her relationship with their father and Alex finally deceiving himself by creating the idealised socialism of his imagination, one of acceptance and compassion, in his final news bulletin.
This film works on many levels. Yes, its plot centres on slightly weightier-than-average subject matter but it deals with it in an engaging, amusing and often incredibly touching manner. Bruhl is outstanding as the well-intentioned but perhaps misguided little-man-lost protagonist, and an excellent supporting cast flesh the film out with humour and heart. A must see.
Maria HallJackass Number Two (2006)
Jackass Number TwoUSA 2006
Director: Jeff Tremaine
A movie like this is almost impossible to review. While none of the people involved are playing characters, I wouldn’t call Jackass Number Two a documentary and while I laughed as hard as I have for any movie lately, I wouldn’t call it a comedy (though it’s certainly more comedy than documentary). Reviewing this movie would be like critiquing your friend falling on his ass. Jackass Number Two is essentially like watching good friends laughing at each other for 95 minutes.
The stunts/practical jokes run the spectrum from slightly tasteless to truly disgusting. There’s something in the movie that will offend almost everyone. That said, I couldn’t stop laughing for most of the running time (inlcuding the opening and closing credits). Notably funny segments include Bam swapping in a counterfeit next to his sleeping mother, the fan loveletter in the hotel, and the terrorist incident. Saying anything more would ruin the fun.
As amateurish as the Jackass boys appear, the stunts and the movie itself are remarkably well-produced and professional. There’s real talent in front of and behind the camera, with Johnny Knoxville the clear standout.
Watching Jackass Number Two, I experienced something that rarely happens when I watch a movie: I didn’t want it to end. In fact, I want to go back and watch all the episodes of the Jackass TV series and the first movie again.
Sure, Jackass is stupid and dangerous and low-brow and disgusting… but I still laughed my ass off.
Colin Le SueurThe Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (2001)
The Lost Skeleton of CadavraUSA 2001
Director: Larry Blamire
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is a tough movie to review. The things that are bad or wrong about the film are deliberately so, emulating the famously-bad horror and science fiction films from the 1950s. Spoofs and parodies have a mixed history in film, especially spoofs of science fiction/horror. On the one hand, you have examples of great parodies like Spaceballs or Scary Movie (the first one, before they lost the plot), spoofs that know to pick the high-points of the movies they’re based on, discarding the rest. On the other hand, some parodies try too hard to retain the plot of the source material, forgetting the comedy (like Dracula, Dead and Loving It). Thankfully, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, while remaining close in tone and content to the genre of films it parodies, also manages to be very funny.
Everything about this film is deliberately amateurish, from the effects to the acting to the dialogue, and this is a big part of what makes The Lost Skeleton so funny. The funniest moments come from the dialogue, many lines (intentionally) unintentionally funny. Some examples: “My legs feel like two slow heavy things” or “Betty, you know what this meteor could mean to science. It could mean actual advances in the field of science.” This is great stuff and something you’d likely hear in classic 1950s horror/sci-fi.
The performances are a lot of fun, especially Animala (a woman made from four forest animals) and the Skeleton, a badly-manipulated puppet with clearly visible strings. All the actors are over-the-top, but what else would you expect? The one complaint I have about the film is that it’s occasionally too slow and some of the situations are too drawn out.
Someone happening onto this film, without knowing the context or history of science fiction, will likely be puzzled by the crudeness and low-budget nature of The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. Fans of the genre, on the other hand, will have a lot of fun and find themselves quoting this film to bewildered friends.
Colin Le Sueur