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Welcome to another edition of Movies That Deserve a Second Life. If you need a refresher on what I’m referring to by “second life,” check out the Action/Adventure Edition. If you’re caught up, read on to see what funny flics I felt were unfairly ignored/disliked upon its release or have been forgotten in the years since its release.

Comedy is almost certainly the most subjective of all genres. What makes one person laugh is guaranteed to make another yawn or wrinkle his/her brow. Some find juvenilia in poor taste while others bust a gut. Everyone claims to have a sense of humor, but almost no one enjoys every type of humor there is, from dry wit and pungent satire to bodily fluid gags and intentionally groan-worthy puns. Therefore, I think it’s safe to say that no one (besides myself) will be satisfied with every choice. I even find some of them a little shameful to root on, but I can’t lie to myself so I won’t lie to you either.

As it was last time, there are arguments to be made not just about whether they’re deserving but also whether some degree of cult status has secured a secular second life or if they have, in fact, already been favored with new life in the video market. And some (particularly the older ones) might have done okay business and been received fairly warmly by critics in its day, but it’s tough to find rock hard resources about box office performance and wide-ranging analysis for movies from the 60s and 70s that aren’t regarded as set-in-stone classics (and hence do not need a second life). This was one of the reasons why I didn’t consider anything released before the 1960s where data would even be tougher to find. In debating whether or not these “close calls” should be included, I figured I might as well mention them anyhow and risk wrath.

So here they are, in alphabetical order. Warning: some clips contain profanity and violence and could spoil certain plot points.


Clue (1985)

If someone were to tell you that they were making a movie based on a board game, I suspect that your first inclination would be to laugh out loud. Luckily, laugh out loud is something I did with fairly good frequency during the shockingly entertaining Clue, a comic mystery based on, well, duh.

The cast alone is terrific. With the sole exception of Leslie Ann Warren (who I, admittedly, know very little about), every one of the main actors excels in comedy: Michael McKean, Christopher Lloyd, Madeline Kahn, Eileen Brennan, Martin Mull and, in a breathless tour de force of madcap mania, Tim Curry as the “butler” (and Warren ain’t too shabby either). The story draws you in with little bits of wicked wordplay and off-beat moments, but by the time the bodies start piling up, the tempo ratchets up to the pace of the most frenzied of thrillers. Except it’s just plain funny.

Famous for featuring one of three alternate endings that would play out in the theater without anyone in the audience knowing ahead of time, blessedly the video version includes them all one after the other (besides, so few people bothered seeing it in theaters anyway). This sort of ruins the purpose of the game, but this one’s about as close to the source material as those Johnny Depp pirate movies were to the theme ride. And this one is a hell of a lot more entertaining. Also floating around the rumor mill: another movie based on the board game is in works. Let’s hope they don’t try a remake.




Delirious (1991)

Critics found Delirious to be a tired John Candy vehicle, one no better than his previous flop, Who’s Harry Crumb, which I also have a mild soft spot for. But Delirious is a wonderful comedy, funny enough to sail across a few dry spots here and there (and a flat performance from Mariel Hemingway). Plus, it features a host of familiar faces in memorable small roles, including the one and only Robert Wagner.

Released the same year as Soapdish, I found this one to be the far savvier and sillier take on soap opera pomposity. The premise is of the high concept variety: soap opera writer suffers a head injury and wakes up inside his own program, with a typewriter that lets him manipulate the people around him. There are a hundred different ways to go with this idea, and there are no doubt more interesting ways to execute it (I can only imagine what someone like Charlie Kaufman could work over), but there are far too many chuckles along the way to dismiss it. Besides, it’s hard to make John Candy unfunny, so he can make pretty much any material work, and this material is sadly underappreciated.

You can view the entire thing on YouTube (in ten parts); I included this clip because it features my two favorite lines: “You can’t even do that right, can you, son?” and “Cleveland? Jesus, I hate Cleveland!”




The Fearless Vampire Killers or: Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck (1967)

Also known as Dance of the Vampires, this is one of those films begging to be rediscovered, and for those that have, it’s nearly universally cherished. It’s a rare comedy for Roman Polanski, who made it in between better known horror thrillers like Repulsion and Rosemary’s Baby. Its humor is usually jet black, but it does give in to sporadic moments of silly slapstick and payoffs that have a vaudevillian flair. Plus, it’s stylish and elegant once you adjust to the atmosphere that has become dated in the many years since this one was released.

I had difficulty tracking down proper stats on this one’s release, so I just assumed that since it’s a Polanski effort but never gets much attention that it must have gone unappreciated in its day. There’s also a terrific sequence where Polanski’s character is racing around…well, just watch the clip and you’ll see. The “punchline” is so familiar that it might as well be gathering dust, but it works the same way that familiar Mel Brooks routines do in his great comedies: funny is funny no matter how many times you’ve heard the joke. And the shot was set up so simply and executed in performance so sublimely that calling it Chaplin-esque is actually quite fitting.




Fierce Creatures (1997)

Fair is fair: A Fish Called Wanda is a comedic masterpiece and this one’s not even close to being in the same league. That said, there are only about four or five comedies ever made that are in the same league, so it’s pointless to compare. It just so happens that the cast had such a great time making Wanda that they felt like teaming up again. And despite mildly positive reviews, no one bothered to show up when it landed in theaters. A shame.

Of the cast, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Palin and Kevin Kline are all a bit more restrained and therefore less funny in this outing (but to be fair, how could Kline top his Otto?). But John Cleese gives in to riffing off his own Basil Fawlty character, which, even in a diluted form, is still hilarious. The story never quite gels together but there are more than enough terrifically funny vignettes to keep you in stitches until the credits. The only times it miffs the yuks is when it goes for the obvious sex jokes, but even they’re usually worth a smile or two.

Like Delirious, the entire movie can be seen on YouTube in several parts. I picked the first one since about seven minutes in there’s a wonderfully amusing sequence where a zookeeper tries to convince the new manager (Cleese) that his adorable little animals are violent enough to warrant the fear that the top brass thinks will bring in the bucks. Cleese is in the zone here, and when he’s firing on all cylinders, there might not be a man or woman alive that can compete with his comedic genius.




Johnny English (2003)

While Johnny English succumbs to fits of graceless physical comedy and juvenile stupidity from time to time, there are more than enough funny throwaways, sidelong glances, two-beat pauses and goofy send-ups to insist on not being dismissed entirely. At the time of its release, the whole 007 parody parade had become a bit too gluttonous (the popularity of the Austin Powers movies certainly sunk the potential), but the straight-faced ineptness owes as much to Frank Drebin and the like as it does to Bond spoofs.

Rowan Atkinson has been in his fair share of lame comedies, notably Rat Race and the clumsy Bean movies, which proves that in small doses the character can be riotous but over a feature length film just becomes irritating. But anyone who has seen Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line knows the man can do funny, and his abundant self-confidence that never works in the character’s favor is frequently amusing. Some gags flop upon arrival but the laugh out loud moments overwhelm.

Frankly, Atkinson is the whole show, since Natalie Imbruglia (yes, the one you’re thinking of) plays it straight, Ben Miller simply reacts to English’s gaffes and John Malkovich isn’t given a juicy enough villain to inhabit (though he does have fun with an atrocious accent). But Rowan’s too skilled of a comedian to botch the classic persona of a daft idiot who thinks he’s the cleverest man in the room.




Kingpin (1996)

The Farrelly brothers have been on quite the losing streak since There’s Something About Mary, but their early movies were gold. Everyone loves Dumb & Dumber, too, but the one in the middle, Kingpin, rarely gets a fair shake. It was a box office dud in between their smashing successes before and after. Some blame it on the fact that the brothers didn’t write this one, just directed. But you’d have a hard time telling because the clever-stupid style feels like it came from the same demented minds.

Woody Harrelson is bitter, Randy Quaid is clueless, Vanessa Angel is easy on the eyes, but the film is, naturally, stolen every time that Bill Murray struts in front of the camera. Indeed, the film can drag at times during the lengthy midsection when Murray’s away, but the other players hold their own well enough that we’re not bored. Harrelson in particular has some great vitriolic moments of rage and sleazy lessons for his Amish protégé. But it just doesn’t get any better than when Murray’s comb-over is flying recklessly, he gropes and leers at busty women and says, well, pretty much anything. Some write it off as a series of crass gross-out gags, and it does have its share of jokes that miss entirely (the horseshoe bit still makes me shake my head in disbelief), but I actually found this one to be funnier than their Mary megahit.




Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

The directorial debut of Shane Black was fairly well received when it came out a few years back, but it came and went from theaters and hasn’t really caught fire in the years since. I have little doubt that the movie wouldn’t need a second life if released now since Robert Downey Jr. is a hot commodity once again in Hollywood after many years of rocky returns. It’s not easy to find the right tone for comedic noir, but Black nails it and manages to offer plenty of laughs while constructing a complicated tale where the audience actually cares about what happens next.

On the surface, it seems to be a dark comedy loaded up with the now requisite doses of sex, violence and profanity. But the performances are mostly deadpan and the momentum is breezy. It proves what we knew (Downey is a capable leading man), what we suspected (Val Kilmer actually can act) and what we forgot (Black works with a pretty sharp if not terribly original pen). The twisting narrative even offers a couple of surprises, which is tough in a time when noir is stripped to clichés and comedies always follow formula. And who doesn’t love Downey’s irreverent, tongue-in-cheek narration?

It’s tough to figure out why the film came and went so quickly. Maybe it didn’t have the star power it would have now. Maybe people had forgotten who Shane Black was. Maybe they weren’t ready for a comedic thriller that doesn’t pretend to have the substance that routine yawners that score more bucks make false claim to. Either way, if you have the right tolerance and appreciation for the material, you won’t walk away disappointed.




Loaded Weapon 1 (1993)

I enjoyed this movie a lot more when it first came out and I was a lot younger, but revisiting it recently proved to me that while more than half of it lands D.O.A., the other third or so is still pretty funny. Batting .400 usually doesn’t say much about a movie, but in this one’s saturation style of comedy as perfected by the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker team from their Airplane and Naked Gun movies, forty percent is more than enough to make for a quality view. That equals at least one chuckle per minute and a handful of gut-busters all the way through.

Lethal Weapon seems an odd movie to parody since the source already had plenty of humorous elements. But they really just take the plot outline of that movie and poke fun at every tiresome cop movie trick in the book (as well as a few nudges at other movies like Basic Instinct and Wayne’s World). A lot of it is pretty stupid (and some downright feeble in execution), but I can’t say I didn’t laugh.

Tuning in for the barrage of cameos is reason enough to watch. Some work better than others—Bruce Willis’ bit is quite funny but F. Murray Abraham fails to inject his Hannibal Lecter parody with much life. Of note to trivia junkies out there: both Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards have bit parts in the movie, long before the two ever met (or before anyone even knew who the hell Richards was). I have no doubt that many will question this pick. I know I probably shouldn’t like it, but I still do. The convenience store shootout in the clip below is reason enough to watch it.



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