“You’re hotter than doughnut grease.”

The premise of the very funny comedy film Poor White Trash is that poor people have to resort to crime in order to maintain that American dream of sending their children to college. It’s a “Robin Hood kind of thing” with the have-nots taking from a corrupt society that includes the embezzling manager of a retirement home and a nasty fast food restaurant.

College bound Michael Bronco (Tony Denman) and his nefarious chum Lenny Lake (Jacob Tierney) are caught stealing a six-pack of Near Beer from the local mini-mart, and as a result, Michael’s college plans seem destined for the toilet. An inept Public Defender bungles the case, and the lads realize they need a lawyer to get them out of the mess they’ve created. Lenny’s brilliant plan is to get his Uncle Ron (William Devane)–who owns the Land O’Law to represent them ‘pro-bono’ (Lenny says this is Spanish for ‘half-price’). Uncle Ron, “the best lawyer in town since he got out of jail” isn’t cheap, and so Michael and Lenny burglarize a neighbour’s trailer as a quick way to get cash. Soon the lads embark on a crime spree, and Michael’s mum, Linda (a deliciously cast Sean Young) forms an inept gang with Michael, Lenny, and Brian Ross (Jason London)–the son of the local sheriff (and Linda’s one-night stand).

Linda Bronco just wants to be a “normal mother,” but that’s not in the cards for this latter-day Ma Barker. In fact, there’s nothing normal in the entire film. Everyone lives in a trailer–even Uncle Ron–the legal eagle–who has made a formidable beer can sculpture garden to enhance his trailer’s attractiveness. And Uncle Ron has a pool–not quite the traditional idea of a pool–but a pool, nonetheless.

It’s the perfectly drawn characters in this film that make it so hilarious. Michael’s desire to be a psychologist runs as a standing joke, and Lenny treats his friend’s ideals with respect while noting “psychology causes people to have mental problems.” Michael’s dad is a pro-wrestler hoping for the cash to get a false eye–this is the one roadblock in scheduling a grudge match with an opponent. William Devane as sleazy lawyer Ron Lake plays the role to perfection–the clothes, the swagger, the jewelry–and don’t forget his t-shirt slogans–all add up to the lawyer who practices law with the intent of getting away with what he can. Ron Lake’s nymphette wife–the manipulative and grasping Sandy (Jaime Pressly) is the perfect complement to Ron.

But my favourite character of all the great characters in this film has to be Lenny Lake. His one-liners, antics, and faulty logic–along with the looks he casts–simply make this film one of my all-time favourite comedies. Poor White Trash is crude at times, has no socially redeeming values, and no moral message, but the film doesn’t compromise on laughs. The script is deceptively clever and moves along rapidly from the first hilarious scene at the mini-mart right up to the finale. From director Michael Addis.

Favourite lines:
“It ain’t your job to execute shoplifters.”

“I am not robbing some place with my mother.”

“For your information, my life is in the toilet.”

“You’re grounded–with the exception of your trial.”

“If you use the word angst in prison, you’ll have a five car pile up on your Hershey highway.”

“Sometimes the best way to deal with depression is to drink.”

“Disrespect me, and I’ll break it off and beat you with it.”

“Anyone fucks with us, they’ll be eating hot rifle grease.”

“Mikie, I’m a bad mother. Go to college, get good grades and write to me in jail.”

“Best line my tummy so’s I’m able to perform.”

Australians always manage to create some of the most demented comedies I’ve ever seen, and Around the World in 80 Ways from director Stephen MacLean makes my list of top 10 all-time great comedies.

Wally Davis (Philip Quast), who according to his dad has “gone funny,” owns and operates a tour bus and runs a beachfront trailer/cafe shaped like a giant banana. After the trailer is repossessed, Wally heads home with the plan to raid the family savings account, but Mum, Mavis Davis (Diana Davidson) leaves for a long-desired whirlwind world tour dumping Dad, geriatric Roly Davis (Allan Penney) at the Twilight Rest Home as she heads for the airport. Wally’s dad suffers from “galloping senility” and has “started boring himself to death” thanks to a treacherous blow delivered by neighbour and former business partner the portly, toupee toting, used car salesman Alex Moffat (Rob Steele).

As Mavis Davis departs on the low budget tour that becomes the holiday package tour from hell, her lustful neighbour Alex Moffat unexpectedly joins her. Meanwhile Wally springs Dad from the rest home with the help of his younger brother Eddy (Kelly Dingwall), an “unemployable tragedy”, but all Dad wants to do is set off in hot pursuit of his wife arguing that Moffat, his rival, neighbour and ex-business partner,”pinched my business and now he’s trying to pinch my Mrs.”

But there’s a BIG problem….Wally needs the money in Dad’s savings account to bail out his trailer from repo. So instead of spending the savings on a world tour to catch Mavis, Wally and Eddy improvise. Since Dad only has 2% vision, they simply PRETEND to travel the world in pursuit of the ever-moving Mavis. Stops on the travel tour include: Hawaii, Las Vegas, Rome and Japan, and Wally creates all of these countries aided and abetted by Eddy, his sound system, Nurse Ophelia Cox (Gosia Dobrowolska), and a small army of inflatable dummies. Oh, and Wally ‘borrows’ Moffat’s “Wedding Cake of a house” named “Tara Moffat” for his world tour. While Mavis is dragged across the world, enduring one miserable experience after another, Roly Davis has the time of his life at home.

You have to see this film to believe it–some of the best scenes, for me at least, are in “Las Vegas” when Wally is both a chorus girl and Elvis, and the way in which Wally creates fake flights and airports is brilliant, amazing, and hysterically funny. And take a good long look at the tour guide, Lotta Boyle (Judith Fisher)–she looks uncannily like Hilary Clinton. The way in which the film juxtaposes the real tour with the fake tour is brilliant, but beneath all this comedy, there’s a motto here: you don’t have to travel the world to have the time of your life. If you loved Muriel’s Wedding or Welcome to Woop Woop you will enjoy this insane comedy film too.

“Maggie, don’t you ever have any clothes on?”

The screwball comedy They All Kissed the Bride stars the magnificent Joan Crawford as tough-as-nails businesswoman M.J Drew. Checking any hint that she’s female or human at the door, the indomitable M.J (Margaret J.) inherits the business from her father, and she runs it with an iron fist, leaving the Board of Directors and management trembling in her wake. Part of the Drew Empire is a trucking business, and M.J hires “spotters” to sneakily report whether or not the truck drivers respect the company regulations. The spotters look for infractions such as picking up hitchhikers and helping disabled motorists, and any trucker guilty of an infraction is subject to fines, suspension and dismissal.

M.J’s network of spotters is emblematic of how she runs her business empire–mercilessly, autocratically and with utmost attention paid to rules and regulations. She applies this didactic business acumen to her personal life too, and she treats her dingy mother (Billie Burke) and mushy younger sister Vivian (Helen Parrish) with inflexible unsentimentally.

MJ’s ordered world comes crashing down, however, when free-spirited journalist Michael Holmes (Melvyn Douglas) begins writing a series of exposes detailing M.J.’s authoritarian approach to business. M.J. immediately orders her spotters to be on the lookout for Holmes, “the ferret with the poisonous pen,” and gives orders to bring Holmes to her office when and if he’s found.

In one of the best scenes in the film, Holmes crashes Vivian’s society wedding, and makes a complete nuisance of himself. There’s mistaken identity, confused motives, and even Joan Crawford jitterbugging in this entertaining, light-hearted comedy. Holmes seems to run rings around M.J’s inflexible need for rules and regulations, and he appears to take great pleasure in flummoxing her by thwarting her orders, ignoring her dictates and casting aspersions on her femininity. With snappy dialog and even pacing, the entertaining film doesn’t miss a beat. From director Alexander Hall.

Carole Lombard was originally intended for the role, but after her death, Crawford took the part.

“Oh I’m so thrilled to be in the shock troops again.”

An affectionate tale of bungling amateur thieves, Make Mine Mink is one of the great must-see British comedy classics. Set in Kensington, the action centers around a boarding house owned, with fading gentility, by Dame Beatrice (Athene Seyler). Her tenants are a motley lot: there’s the mannish Nanette Parry (Hattie Jacques), who makes her living coaching would-be debutantes on issues of etiquette, the frazzled, nervous Pinkie (Elspeth Duxbury), a spinster who mends chipped china, and Major Rayne (Terry-Thomas), a man whose glory days remain in WWII.

When the film begins, the tenants’ lives are fraught with petty arguments with one another. Forced to share amenities, their relationships are mired in dislike and irritation, but there’s an exception to this–all of the tenants worship their kindly landlady, the eccentric Dame Beatrice. Even the maid, Lily (Billie Whitelaw), a reformed thief adores her employer, and the household agrees that Dame Beatrice is a wonderful woman who devotes her life to charitable pursuits.

But Dame Beatrice’s charitable pursuits aren’t yielding much in the way of results, and she notes that whatever profit they make goes “down the throat of the organizing committee.” A chain of events leads the tenants, and Dame Beatrice to pursue a life of crime in order to fund Dame Beatrice’s favourite charities. And as in usual in the case of thieves who operate out of boredom and the need for excitement, this ad-hoc gang develops an alarming taste for a life of crime.

Operating with the campaign strategy of the Major, the newly formed gang conducts a rash of daring fur robberies. For the first time in years, the Major is in his element, feeling useful and productive, as he marshals the women into various robberies. With experience, they become more practiced, and they also become more creative, but a couple of close calls cause them to reconsider. Unfortunately, they are now addicted to the excitement and the thrill of their criminal lives. The Major used to bemoan the fact that he ended “holed up here with a lot of dotty women,” but now the women rely on him to direct operations with a military flare.

Directed by Robert Asher and based on a play by Peter Coke, this gentle comedy pokes fun at the foibles of human nature and the dangers of boredom. Keep your eyes open for Kenneth Williams as sneaky fence Freddie Warrington.

“Sergeant-major, you’re a sex maniac.”

Up The Front is a British comedy starring the late great and much loved British comedian Frankie Howerd. Howerd starred in a popular television series about ancient Rome, called Up Pompeii, and he played the leering, campy slave Lurcio. In some ways this character is simply transported to the WWI film Up The Front. Bob Kellett directed both the 1971 film Up Pompeii and Up the Front (and for that matter, he also directed Up The Chastity Belt, which also stars Frankie Howerd). In Up The Front, Howerd plays Lurk, a servant in a posh London home in 1914. Each episode of Up Pompeii started with Lurcio trying to deliver the Prologue, and in each episode, he would face the camera and begin with the word, Greetings. This is also exactly how Up The Front begins.

When war breaks out, a wave of patriotic fervor sweeps through London, but Lurk doesn’t take the bait. However, when Lurk hears that the Butler, Groping (Bill Fraser) and the housemaid, Fanny (Madeline Smith) are about to attend a enlistment rally, he goes along too–just to show that he doesn’t deserve the white feather callously handed to him by Fanny in a private moment.

Unfortunately for Lurk, he’s hypnotized, and operating under the idea that he “must save England,” he enlists. Lurk soon finds himself near the Front and his sergeant-major is none other than Groping, the former butler.

For the most part, Up The Front is a very silly comedy designed as a vehicle for Howerd, so Howerd fans (me) will enjoy the film if for no other reason than Howerd is in almost every scene. Howerd is his usual leering, sly, tongue waggling, and cheek sucking self. The comedy is largely bawdy double entendre with a little slapstick thrown in for good measure. There’s even some peeping through keyholes and one on-going joke has Lurk peeping through keyholes and interrupting Groping’s sexual escapades. The final third of the film is the strongest section, and the film suddenly seems to spring to life. Howerd, who sports the German Master Plan tattooed on his bottom, is in one great cross-dressing scene (what’s a British comedy without a cross-dressing scene), and there’s a superbly timed denouement involving the Buttercup Girls and a Can-Can routine. There’s also a great scene between Howerd and Mata Hari (Zsa Zsa Gabor), and what a mismatched couple they make.

Up The Front isn’t much of a WWI film. There’s no reference to the millions of died, so it’s a peculiar setting for a comedy, but it’s almost beside the point that The Great War is raging. Patriotism is portrayed as a sort of insanity–after all the patriotic Nigel Phipps-Fortescue (Jonathan Cecil) is a bit of a twit, and Lurk must be hypnotized before he’ll enlist. Unfortunately, the script doesn’t do a great deal for Howerd’s comedic talents. Keep an eye open for Dora Bryan in the role of dotty Cora Crumpington (Dora Bryan).

Up The Front was just released on DVD by WHAM, and this is a very good print. I had no problems with it whatsoever. I copied some lines down for all Howerd fans out there:

“Don’t worry Fanny, I foiled his fondling .”
“Let’s have a quick feel.”
“Sergeant-major, which means the sun shines up my arse.”
Mata Hari looking at herself in the mirror: “I even intoxicate myself.”
Mata Hari to Lurk: “To a Just Peace in our time.” Lurk replies: “To a juicy piece any time.”

“Tasks of a somewhat unusual nature.”

Laughter in Paradise, from director Mario Zampi is one of the great comedies from the Golden age of British film. Its premise is simple: well-known practical joker, Henry Russell dies, he leaves his fortune to four relatives. There are strings, however. Henry’s will stipulates that each of his heirs must meet certain conditions in order to inherit. These conditions are different for each heir and seem designed to test the character of Henry’s relatives.

There’s Agnes (Fay Compton), a bitter spinster who terrorizes the domestic staff in her employment. In order to inherit her 50,000 pounds, she must apply for a job as a domestic servant, and then stay employed for one month. Agnes “who made life a purgatory for anyone in her employ” is employed by a cantankerous Scot and promptly renamed Bertha.

Slimy playboy Simon (Guy Middleton) must marry the first woman he talks to. Mild-mannered bank clerk Herbert (George Cole) must rob his bank with a water pistol, and retired army officer/pulp novelist Deniston (Alastair Sim) must commit a crime and languish in jail for 30 days.

The conditions of Henry Russell’s will seem designed to torture and challenge his relatives while addressing their character flaws. Deniston, for example, writes his pulp novels under a variety of false names. For him, writing pulp novels is just a painful, undignified means to survival, and he intends to write the ‘great’ novel once he inherits his share of the fortune. A slave to respectability, it really goes against the grain for him to do anything illegal. Deniston’s position is further complicated by his 10-year-long engagement to Fluffy, otherwise known as Elizabeth Robson (Joyce Grenfell), a priggish officer in the British army. The fun of this gentle comedy comes from the predictability of human nature as the heirs juggle a desire to be rich with actions that are in direct opposition to character.

The wonderful Alastair Sim steals this great comedy classic film, and his scenes are priceless. In real life, Sim unofficially adopted George Cole, took him into his home and trained him to be an actor. Keep your eyes open for a very young Audrey Hepburn as a cigarette girl.

“Is this a meal or a dilemma?”

No Shame (Sin Verguenza) is a light Spanish comedy film directed by Joaquin Oristrell (Unconscious, What Makes Women Laugh). The story revolves around a drama school run by Isabel (the marvelous Veronique Forque). Isabel, who was once an up-and-coming young actress, now concentrates on juggling the egos of her students while raising her daughter, Belen (Marta Etura).

Excitement disrupts the usual atmosphere at the drama school when one of the students steals a script from director Mario (Daniel Gimenez Cacho). Apparently Mario is considering casting his next film with unknowns, so naturally all the students hope to secure a part. With this idea in mind, the script is returned to Mario along with an audition tape of the students, and Mario agrees to visit the school and watch scene presentations.

While the students competitively vie for attention, it seems that Isabel and Mario have some unfinished business from the past, and Veronique Forque, who really is a wonderful comedienne, delivers her usual fine performance. Here she’s a woman on edge, but very competent at what she does, and several scenes show her coaching and extracting better performances from her students.

Subplots include Mario’s marriage to a soap opera actress who wants to make the transition to film, and there are also some minor entanglements amongst the students. The premise seems to be that actors are a different breed, and that competitiveness and strong egos come with the territory. There’s nothing too serious here, and the comedic elements are certainly entertaining. If you’ve enjoyed other films from Oristrell, you should know what to expect. In Spanish with subtitles.

In Amy’s O (AKA Amy’s Orgasm) Amy Mandell (played by writer/director Julie Davis) is the very successful author of the self-help bestseller “Why Love Doesn’t Work.” She attends books signings and is a guest on talk shows, but even she acknowledges that something is missing from her strictly single, celibate lifestyle. Her parents wonder where they went wrong, and her best friends (seemingly happy in their state of married bliss) all think that Amy’s book is the result of one bad experience with a man. But Amy seems to think differently, and says “Love is like an hourglass–the heart fills up, and the brain empties.”

Then Amy’s agent arranges a live-on-the-air interview with radio talk-show host, Matthew Starr (played by Nick Chunlund). Now Starr could probably teach Howard Stern a thing or two about offending women–Starr is lecherous, very, very blunt, and he’s probably had more women than I’ve had hot dinners.

This is a very fresh, funny, and engaging film–however, it is is also quite frank when it comes to the frequent discussion of sex. I would hesitate to recommend it as a “date” film–as your date MAY be very offended and imagine you’re making hints. So be prepared. Amy’s O is not your average “boy meets girl” film–it’s much more than that–it blends modern relationships with modern attitudes (with a very heavy emphasis on female sexuality) mixes it all up, and shows what a confusing mess it can be.

“Do you mean to say that the one piece of evidence that could corroborate your story is wrapped around a turd halfway to the North Sea? “

“I’ll have the evidence this time even if I have to search every sausage in the south of England.”

“And now you have the manpower of three police forces swooping on innocent families like the Mongol horde and making off with the contents of a liver sausage sandwich.”

“Why are you giving off such a negative aura? I’m sure it’s because your colon’s clenched. “

Wilt (AKA The Misadventures of Mr. Wilt) is a British film based on the comic novel by Tom Sharpe. Henry Wilt (Griff Rhys-Jones) is a lecturer at the local tech school, so he has the unpleasant job of teaching literature to technical students who would rather not learn about the tragic life of Jude the Obscure. Passed over for promotion several times, Wilt is one of those quiet types who keeps his frustrations under wraps. But he does allow himself the occasional mumble of discontent, and he also has fantasies about murdering his domineering wife, Eva (Alison Steadman). Eva has an uncanny knack for identifying and emphasizing her husband’s insecurities. For example, Eva has a friend, old school chum, Sally (Diana Quick) who’s now very wealthy. Eva constantly compares her modest circumstances to the glorious consumer orgy of Sally’s lifestyle, and naturally this grates on Henry as he’s secretly bothered about his humble career and his constant missed promotions.

One night, Wilt and Eva attend a party at Sally’s grandiose home, and Wilt finds himself attached (literally) to an obscene inflatable doll. This embarrassing incident leads to a chain of unfortunate events, and Wilt finds himself charged with the murder of his wife, her friend Sally, and Sally’s husband. In charge of the investigation is the bumbling Inspector Flint (Mel Smith), and he’s convinced that Wilt is a cold-blooded stone killer.

This comedy of errors plays out against campus politics, and some of Wilt’s fellow lecturers stand for him, and some stand against him as a media circus unfolds at the tech school. Laugh-out-loud funny in a couple of spots, the film was very, very amusing and engaging, and it was also fairly faithful to the book. The film adds on a couple of story threads that are absent in the book, and the film adaptation loses some of the sexist references in the novel. Overall, this was an enjoyable little comedy, and if you enjoyed the book, you’ll probably be pleased with the film. Directed by Michael Tuchner.

“Some people can’t play sports. I can’t make friends.”

My Best Friend, from director Patrice Leconte, is a comedy about self-focused antique dealer Francois Coste (Daniel Auteuil). Middle-aged Francois is divorced and has a casual, emotionless relationship with a girlfriend, and he’s the business partner with lesbian Catherine (Julie Gayet). The film presents three social situations that collectively sum up Francois’s life–a funeral, an auction, and a dinner with business acquaintances.

When the film begins, Francois attends the funeral of another antique dealer and notes a mere 7 people attend the ceremony (and that includes the man’s widow). Later that day, Francois and Catherine attend an auction together, and here Francois rather impulsively buys a Greek vase for 200,000 Euros from the 5th century B.C. The vase comes with a story–apparently it was made to commemorate the death of a friend.

Catherine is annoyed by the purchase of the vase. The gallery doesn’t have the money to float this sort of purchase the vase, unless Francois turns it over quickly with a profit. To her surprise, Francois admits that he wants to keep the vase himself, and he ignores the fact that he’s not exactly working in unison with his partner on this deal, or that he’s jeopardizing their business in his selfish pursuit. Things come to a head that evening at a restaurant when Catherine challenges Francois to produce a ‘best friend’ within 10 days, and with the vase as the prize to the winner, Francois begins a hunt to find a friend. It isn’t long before he hooks up with gregarious taxi driver, Bruno (Dany Boon). This scenario opens up many episodes of clumsy attempts by Francois to make friends.

While on the surface, Bruno seems to be the sort of person who makes friends easily (hence Francois employs him to give lessons), in reality, he’s not much better off then Francois. The difference between the two men is that Bruno makes an effort, and is genuinely interested in people. Francois, on the other hand has a tendency (like most of us) to confuse acquaintances with true friendship. But both Bruno and Francois are terribly lonely people. The difference is that Francois doesn’t really understand that until he’s confronted with the notion of how many people would show up to his funeral.

My Best Friend is a change of pace for Leconte. With the impressive Widow of St Pierre, The Hairdresser’s Husband, The Girl on the Bridge, Intimate Strangers and Monsieur Hire in his past, My Best Friend–with its warm and fuzzy, clichéd moments, is much lighter fare. I prefer Auteuil in serious roles (Heart in Winter, The Elegant Criminal, Sade), but if you have to stick him in a comedy, at least give him one of those dastardly comedy roles. My Best Friend is a decent film, lighthearted with strains of meaning (what is life all about, etc), but for this Leconte fan, it doesn’t come close to some of previous films.

Cineaste interview with Leconte:

http://www.cineaste.com/articles/making-friends-the-hard-way.htm