The first two of the three segments in this film consist of an almost alien sense of humor to most people. It's so bizarre, it's essentially an acquired taste. So, people going into this movie expecting the style of humor in Animal House and the Vacation movies are going to be disappointed, but it isn't without merit.
The third segment, however, I thought was downright hilarious...which is strange, because it's the one that seems to get trashed the most. It doesn't help that some versions, for some weird reason, censor the hell out of the language-but leaving the nudity intact?-killing some of the jokes...the newer DVD is uncensored, thankfully, but I can see why people might not like it if they're only familiar with the edited version. Benson, Lloyd and Widmark are charming in this segment, and Benson and Lloyd's duet of "Feelings" is wonderful (with a ragtime rendition of it playing over the last shot, paying homage to silent cinema).
What's unfortunate is, Henry Jaglom (the director of the third segment) also shot a fourth segment that was cut from the film...given that the segment he made that is in the film is the best part of the picture, this makes me sad. I would've loved to have seen the deleted segment. It's also unfortunate that, according to an interview I read with him, he is so embarrassed by the final cut that he refuses to speak about the film on the whole....it's a shame because he did some nice work here.
The movie probably wasn't what people expected from National Lampoon, but it's nowhere near as terrible as most people make it out to be, and deserved better than to sit on the shelf for two years, and then only a direct-to-video release.
The third segment, however, I thought was downright hilarious...which is strange, because it's the one that seems to get trashed the most. It doesn't help that some versions, for some weird reason, censor the hell out of the language-but leaving the nudity intact?-killing some of the jokes...the newer DVD is uncensored, thankfully, but I can see why people might not like it if they're only familiar with the edited version. Benson, Lloyd and Widmark are charming in this segment, and Benson and Lloyd's duet of "Feelings" is wonderful (with a ragtime rendition of it playing over the last shot, paying homage to silent cinema).
What's unfortunate is, Henry Jaglom (the director of the third segment) also shot a fourth segment that was cut from the film...given that the segment he made that is in the film is the best part of the picture, this makes me sad. I would've loved to have seen the deleted segment. It's also unfortunate that, according to an interview I read with him, he is so embarrassed by the final cut that he refuses to speak about the film on the whole....it's a shame because he did some nice work here.
The movie probably wasn't what people expected from National Lampoon, but it's nowhere near as terrible as most people make it out to be, and deserved better than to sit on the shelf for two years, and then only a direct-to-video release.