leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (02/10/86)
DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: This light comedy from Disney's
Touchstone Productions lampoons the California lifestyle, but
lacks the satisfying bite of SERIAL.. Speaking of biting,
Mike the dog is the hit of the film but surely hungers for a
meatier role. Pleasant, but no aisle-roller.
Hollywood seems to be losing some of its self-confidence and looking
for succesful genres elsewhere in the world to imitate. They are taken from
all over the spectrum from martial arts films to Kurosawa's historical
epics. One periodic source is the French farce. THE MAN WITH ONE RED SHOE,
THE WOMAN IN RED, and BUDDY BUDDY are examples that come to mind. The most
recent addition to their ranks is the Touchstone film DOWN AND OUT IN
BEVERLY HILLS, the Americanization of the classic French film BOUDO SAVED
FROM DROWNING.
Nick Nolte plays, Jerry, a bum so far down on his luck that his own dog
deserts him for a bag of French fries. Meanwhile Dave (Richard Dreyfus)
plays a man who has made millions selling coat hangers. His family had
everything material they could possibly want so, of course, everyone is just
vaguely discontented and looking for something else. Fate brings Jerry to
Dave's swimming pool to commit suicide. Dave, seeing Jerry jump into his
pool, rescues him and adopts him into the family only to discover that
bringing strangers into one's home can be a mistake. It can also be very
educational.
DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS has a light, whimsical touch in its
lampooning of the California lifestyle, but little of the lampooning feels
like it comes from someone who has been there. Instead, it seems like a
stranger guessing what sort of eccentricities might go on in California.
DOWN AND OUT had neither the humor nor the biting satire of SERIAL.
Some attention has been paid to the antics of Matisse, the family dog,
played by Mike, a black and white dog with eyes of two different colors.
High praise and (reputedly) many job offers have been heaped on Mike after
his comic acting performance. Mike is funny, and appears well-trained, but
he seems to be a method actor and he uses the Cheeta method. That is, when
given a chance of behaving like an animal or a human, act human.
It is hard to be enthusiastic about DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS. It
has occasional bursts of hilarity, but generally is toned down to whimsey.
The film is somehow missing something, but what it does have makes it worth
seeing. Give it a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeperbaron@harvard.UUCP (Jeff Baron) (02/15/86)
I saw DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS when it first opened a few weeks ago. I must
say that I thought that it was the best comedy since ALL OF ME (Steve Martin
and Lily Tomlin).
First, I thought that the movie was funny in itself, neglecting the fact
that what it portrays is "somewhat" inaccurate (if not completely wrong.)
Bette Midler is very funny at least, hysterical at best. I thought that she
stole the film from Dreyfus and Nolte. As far as Matisse goes,
you've seen all of this dog stuff before, and I was actually
disappointed by it all.
Second, I think that the movie, instead of lampooning Beverly Hills,
was actually lampooning people in general. Everything in the
movie was a hyperbole, from the bums to Beverly Hills to the anorexic
daughter. Far from making us laugh at the lifestyle of the rich and famous,
I thought that its purpose was to make us laugh at ourselves,
and laugh at our often mistaken ideas about other people by
throwing these mistaken ideas back at ourselves.
People that dislike the movie because it portrays a distorted
view of Beverly Hills simply missed the mark.
On a scale of -4 to +4, I'd give it a +3.
--
Jeff Baron
{allegra,genrad,ucbvax}!harvard!baron