I have a (fairly) vast collection of VHS tapes. I rarely get rid of anything, especially movies. Given that, there are a few among them that I don't care all that much for... some, I've even forgotten. There are even two or three that I've only watched once, and never really felt like watching again... each time it came up as I searched through my collection of films for something to watch, I would cringe at the thought of sitting through it even one more time. This is one such film. I'm not entirely sure what compelled me to give it another chance... I read a quote or two, half-remembered how they were said, and recognized some names on the cast... Phil Hartman, Ed Begley Jr. and Jere Burns(in order of how talented and funny I'd rate them), all three of which I've seen elsewhere and grown to appreciate the talents of(Douglas and Fox were the only two actors I knew the first time I watched this), and I think those were the main contributors, the last of the two reasons being the most important(in fact, Hartman is one of the people on a short mental list of people that I want to watch all of(well, at least as far as the watchable ones go) the work of). As the opening credits come on, I nearly regretted this decision... but that went away fairly quickly after the film itself began. The plot is pretty good. The actors all fit their roles and perform quite well. The cinematography does its job fine, as well as the editing, even if they are a little weird at times(speaking as a film aficionado(and someone who enjoys using words from foreign languages in everyday life) as well as someone who's enjoyed the pleasure and the privilege of trying his hands at both, it seems like there were many situations(be it in the production or post-production phase; shooting or editing) where they couldn't quite think of a good solution how to get all the elements or properly frame the shots, so they just went with the best they could think of(which leaves a bit to be desired, at times). It isn't that huge a deal, though). All those elements are fine, if not downright good. The real problem here is the humor... in spite of some wit and some black comedy that is among the darkest I have seen, there just seems to be too little of the film's humor that works. The timing is occasionally off, and a lot of potential(not to mention comical talent) is wasted. For a comedy, this just doesn't provide enough laughs to keep you watching for almost two hours. What made it truly worth it for me, and the main reason I urge anyone who decides to give this film a chance is the moral... the message of the film(it alone lifted my rating above the average of a 5). It gives such a clear perspective on greed, one that I don't believe I've ever seen presented before(and certainly not so skillfully). I recommend this to any fan of comedies who is willing to accept a lesser comedy to get to the great message of it(which is neither preachy nor heavy-handed, as some the moral of some message-movies is). Maybe the biggest fans of the actors should avoid, though... you may hate for the sole reason of how little the biggest talents in the film get to do. 6/10
Review of Greedy
