Reviews

I wouldn't call it a classic, but PENELOPE is definitely a fun way to spend an afternoon. Natalie Wood is gorgeous and quite funny in the title role, and she has an amazing wardrobe. Dick Shawn and Peter Falk (practicing for COLUMBO?) provide strong supporting performances as a psychiatrist and a police lieutenant, respectively. Unfortunately, Ian Bannen lacks charisma, making it hard to believe that "Penelope" would choose his character over every other man in NYC. With its bright, bold colors and criminal exploits, PENELOPE plays like an extended episode of the "Batman" TV series. In fact, the film includes a reference to Batman. Definitely a must-see for Natalie Wood fans.

I found this film to be a bit dated, specifically when the action veered into melodrama and in the depiction of the "clean-cut" "bad kids." That said, I think this film is, nonetheless, timeless because it conveys the restlessness that so many teenagers feel, as well as their frustrations that are so difficult to articulate. And I don't believe that those feelings are exclusive to teenagers. What adult hasn't felt the way Jim Stark feels in this film, knowing that he is unhappy, yet not really knowing why, or what to do about it? I'm almost 40 and I still connected with the characters because I am far from having "it" figured out. Not every film manages to remain a classic, but this one has because it contains great emotional truth, and that truth is the heart of the film.

A friend of mine saw this at the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and reported that the audience laughed through the entire film. Then, when the director came out for a question and answer session, his first comment was, "I didn't know I made a comedy." Naturally, I had to rent it, but I approached it with an open mind, suspecting that the audience reaction was a reflection of the "hip, above it all, dismiss everything as camp" attitude that is far too common among movie viewers today.

Well, I was wrong. This film was one of the worst I have ever seen. The acting, writing, and directing were terrible. Particularly bad was the skinny kid with acne who read every line in the same way. He would say the first three words very slowly and then say the rest of his line quickly. For example, "Are...you...going...tothemovies?" Porn video companies make compilations of sex scenes from their various titles. Watching this film was like watching a compilation of the non-sex scenes from gay porn.

I first saw this film on the ABC Friday Night Movie, and I have been in love with it ever since. Everything about this film is first-rate. The script is clever and filled with hilarious sight gags and dialogue. The actors are superb and hit every comic note with precision. And Peter Bogdanovich oversees everything with great skill, maintaining a frantic pace that never gets out of control. Film snobs might turn up their noses at this film, comparing it unfavorably with "Bringing Up Baby" and "The Awful Truth," but I feel that this film is a fine entry in the screwball comedy tradition. It's a shame that today's directors don't study the classics the way Bogdanovich clearly did. If they did, we might be treated to more comedic gems like this film.

I've always wanted to see this film, and I'm glad I finally had the opportunity. As an example of old Hollywood's inability to grasp the counterculture of the late '60s, it is certainly worth seeing once. However, it is neither a great film nor a lost masterpiece, and I find it depressing that it is being hailed as such by those who are caught up in the smug-hip mindset that values mediocre films like this over truly great cinema. As bizarre as it all sounds, it plays like an extended episode of a bad sitcom and is really rather tame. However, the song performed by Carol Channing at the end is catchy and will remain in your head for days. You have been warned.

The opening credits sequence of THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW was one of the best ever. The theme song was quite manic, and was accompanied by clips of the actors getting hit with flying objects, splashed with water, and crashing into walls and through floors and ceilings. What's more, the appropriate sound effects for each mishap were dubbed in. The result was one of the most wild opening credits sequences I have ever seen, which emphasized the madcap events in the episodes themselves. All of this is made even more hilariously bizarre (or bizarrely hilarious) by the almost complete absence of memorable opening credits sequences, and memorable theme songs, on television today.