Almost Heroes

[roto...@mailcity.com]

Saw this Chris Guest movie last night, Almost Heroes. There's Chris
Farley in a John Candy role, there's Eugene Levy in a Eugene Levy
role, and there's a bunch of the Guest regulars sprinkled throughout
the cast.

I'm wondering about all the bad reviews. I know people will hate this
if...

* They hate "stupid humor". But if the stupid humor is done with the
right timing and directorial control, it can be hilarious.

* They hate running jokes. I like running jokes, especially if they
involve Farley screaming or falling great distances.

* They want Guest to create the same kind of movie. He's did something
different.

* They hate Farley. But I had forgotten how funny it is to see Farley
do the motivational speaker (in various ways).

* They hate buddy-movie setups. But the setup telegraphs some jokes
and if these are handled right, the result is funny.

* They hate Matthew Perry. I couldn't watch Friends, but this guy
delivered a lot of SCTV-situational humor with just the right (light)
touch.

* They hate farces. I had forgotten how much fun farces can be done
right.

All-in-all, miles and miles ahead of Eastward Ho or many of the other
Candy vehicles. Guest did a great job and Levy did some classic SCTV-
type schtick ("Gaaauunttlettt. The Gaunt-let. You want me to prepare a
Gaauuntlett?")

Farley was good - I had forgotten how much his voice and delivery is
like Brian Doyle-Murrays.

I think SCTVers would find this film funny. Having a drink wile
watching will make it even better.

- D

[Justin Pate]

<roto...@mailcity.com> wrote in message
news:1174935906.7...@e65g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...

I didn't even know this movie existed. You can't give a chance what you are
not even aware of. As for the Matthew Perry thing, no big deal. I've
learned that any motion picture coming from Hollywood is always going to
have something I don't like about it. It's just a question of if the movie
is good enough to overcome the obligatory stumbling blocks injected into it.

[Felicity]

I saw the movie, and IMHO it was just so-so. The humour was a lot
broader than I prefer, and I found that I didn't really care about the
premise. I don't like things set in frontier times, though, so it
might have just been me. At least Eugene Levy's character was sort of
cool in that movie.

Speaking of Eugene Levy and movies set in frontier times, you know
what I've never seen? "Sodbusters," made in 1994, directed by Eugene
Levy and written by Levy and John Hemphill. The cast includes
Hemphill; SCTV guest-stars Fred Willard, Don Lake (the birthday boy in
"The Bowery Boys in the Band"), and George Buza (the jealous husband
in "Just for Fun"); Maria Vacratsis (of the Frantics sketch comedy
troupe show "Four on the Floor"); and Canadian-born actor John
Vernon...as "Slade Cantrell"! Wow!