onetwothreefour
Bluelight Crew
well, i wasn't so impressed. this is the first time i'd ever seen the film, and as i'd heard that it was voted the 'best comedy of all time' by the afi (as well as being number thirty-seven on imdb's top two-hundred and fifty), i was quite looking forward to it. and i didn't think it sucked, it was just a little flat imo. wilder's best work was sunset boulevard, and i really don't this even comes close.
i don't know, maybe i think people see the big-name cast and innovative idea and automatically convince themselves of its worth (without actually taking much from the film itself), or maybe i'm just mistaken, but the film -to me- was enjoyable...but that's about all. as many have said, the script was probably the film's strong point (snappy dialogue, witty jokes), but apart from that i didn't think there was a helluva lot to it - the premise, whilst somewhat amusing, didn't really hold up for as long as it could have, and monroe's appearance didn't add anywhere near as much as others have said. despite her pretty damn good performance, the role just didn't have much to it.
the script *was* tight though, and there's some damn fine jokes ("water polo? isn't that dangerous?" / "i'll say, i had two ponies drown on me" and the hilarious closing line spring to mind), but this film -unusually- is actually kind of less than a sum of its parts. it has good things in it, but when you chuck it all together the film is somewhat dissapointing.
as mentioned in some of the imdb reports on the film, the several sub-texts running through the film are worth note - sugar's unfortunate love-life echoes that of monroe's (and is even more poignant when the mental state of monroe at the time of shooting is taken into account), and the way in which director billy wilder utilises the obvious issues to examine society's masculine discontent in the post-war (well, it's a little later now, but it still existed) years. so in looking back - it seems that by all accounts it should be an amazing film...it's just that the final product isn't quite as good as one's first impression.
i'd love to hear other people's thoughts on the film - is it perhaps a case of people looking back a little too lovingly (rose-tinted glasses i guess) on this, especially considering where it was placed in monroe's career, and the penchant that most film critics have to wank over pretty much anything wilder touched
i don't know, maybe i think people see the big-name cast and innovative idea and automatically convince themselves of its worth (without actually taking much from the film itself), or maybe i'm just mistaken, but the film -to me- was enjoyable...but that's about all. as many have said, the script was probably the film's strong point (snappy dialogue, witty jokes), but apart from that i didn't think there was a helluva lot to it - the premise, whilst somewhat amusing, didn't really hold up for as long as it could have, and monroe's appearance didn't add anywhere near as much as others have said. despite her pretty damn good performance, the role just didn't have much to it.
the script *was* tight though, and there's some damn fine jokes ("water polo? isn't that dangerous?" / "i'll say, i had two ponies drown on me" and the hilarious closing line spring to mind), but this film -unusually- is actually kind of less than a sum of its parts. it has good things in it, but when you chuck it all together the film is somewhat dissapointing.
as mentioned in some of the imdb reports on the film, the several sub-texts running through the film are worth note - sugar's unfortunate love-life echoes that of monroe's (and is even more poignant when the mental state of monroe at the time of shooting is taken into account), and the way in which director billy wilder utilises the obvious issues to examine society's masculine discontent in the post-war (well, it's a little later now, but it still existed) years. so in looking back - it seems that by all accounts it should be an amazing film...it's just that the final product isn't quite as good as one's first impression.
i'd love to hear other people's thoughts on the film - is it perhaps a case of people looking back a little too lovingly (rose-tinted glasses i guess) on this, especially considering where it was placed in monroe's career, and the penchant that most film critics have to wank over pretty much anything wilder touched
