Comedies Off The Shelf
Comedies Off The Shelf
By Cesare A.X. Syjuco [Video Troll]
Published in: The Manila Times, September 07, 1987
WITH the local Betamax boom came the birth of a new profession: that of the Video Counsellor - he or she who determines the quality of our play-for-pay televiewing by recommending titles from off the shelves at tape rental outlets. To be sure, there are good counsellors and bad ones. The more gifted among them have the ability to immediately discern client preferences, intuiting a customer's personal taste and helping him to make his selection from the titles currently available. Here are some stock-in-trade comedies that were recommended to me by resident counsellors at a major Betamax outlet:
Hero-At-Large - Those who think John Ritter is a dog will probably keel over on seeing him in cape and tights, and that's comedy enough for some. Ritter plays a down-and-out actor hired to promote a superhero movie by donning a look-alike costume and signing autographs for kids in theater lobbies. But so involved is Ritter in his role that he takes on the real-life identity of a fly-by-night crime fighter, jumping muggers and other back-alley desperados and leaving them helpless.
Brewster's Millions - Richard Pryor is an alternate pitcher for a minor-league baseball team when he learns that his late great-uncle has left him a $300-million inheritance. The old geezer's will stipulates, however, that Pryor must spend $30-million in 30 days or forfeit the remainder of the estate, and that the money must be spent without acquiring any personal assets. That's a lot tougher than it sounds, and Pryor's deliberately-precarious "investments" end up making more than they are losing. A sudden stroke of genius has him running for Mayor of New York City, and as our own recent electoral candidates will tell you, there's just no easier way to get your butt in hock in one hell of a hurry. At any rate, the Ritchie Rich syndrome can be pretty taxing on working-class viewers; but if you actually like Richard Pryor, you'll probably forgive his many excesses in this frantic marathon of a movie.
History of the World - Who said bad movies are born and not made? Mel Brooks nurses this monstrously half-witted burlesque of a horse opera from cradle to grave, and it's a long-winded route that pleads the case for euthanasia.
The Roommate - A loose adaptation of John Updike's story of the same title, this TV film is only peripherally funny, and could just as easily have been classified as light drama. Lance Guest and Barry Miller play two college freshmen at Northwestern U, thrown together as mismatched roomies. Guest is the all-American Golden Boy, ex-captain of his hometown varsity basketball team and high school valedictorian to boot. Miller is his perfect foil, unkempt and unconventional, a scruffy amateur Yogi and budding Marxist. When Miller gets the girls, the grades, and the peer-respect that Guest feels should be rightfully his, condescension turns to hatred. If you borrow this tape expecting "Porky's," you're in for a long night.
Happy Hour - When an idealistic chemist stumbles on a tasteless additive that makes consumers want more and more of anything, he envisions making natural health foods as delectably irresistible as junk chow. But a scheming brewery magnate has other ideas for his concoction, and uses it to spice up an obscure brand of cheap beer. The public can't stop guzzling this new alcoholic brew, and people are literally rolling in the streets. In a week's time, the legal age for drinking is dropped to 6 years old, and the chemist's own kids are eating their cereal with booze, not milk. Starring Richard Gilligand and Jamie Farr, this riotous farce should have you belching for more.
Hysterical - The Hudson Brother's overdrawn parody of recent horror films from "The Exorcist" to "Jaws", "Poltergeist" and beyond. This is still another dud that should have been smothered with a pillow at birth.
House Calls - You'd have to be over 35 and aching from a recent brush with the medical profession to get into this one. Walter Matthau is a recently-widowed, middle-aged surgeon dabbling in mid-life promiscuity. But the proverbial one-nighters have begun to take their toll on his nerves and his pocketbook, and the obligatory water-beds make him seasick.
Enter: Glenda Jackson, an outspoken divorcee whose strong views are habitually trained at doctors and tomcats in particular. From hereon, the movie gets into high gear, and the verbal exchanges are deliciously barbed.
"I'm a little low on cash," says Matthau to Jackson in a bit of inspired dialogue. "Excuse me while I go and cut up a few people."
Ah, love in a surgical gown...how sweet it is!
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Cesare A.X. Syjuco, “Comedies Off The Shelf” (page 1 of 1), The Manila Times, September 07, 1987
