why we laugh

* * * * Nope - AN AMERICAN CAROL isn't a great comedy but I liked it. It's strange sitting in a movie theater where the message is so pro-American - pro-troops! The perspective is so very conservative and right on! In a sense, it's kind of like the old WWII American propaganda film WHY WE FIGHT - that is if Frank Capra had cast the Three Stooges to have a role.

I've got a feeling that this movie isn't going to go away. The movie is not a keep you in stitches comedy. It might though eventually gain a cult following because of the story. Don't get me wrong - It had it's funny moments - but it also a few poignant moments that caught me off guard. It's a silly movie that packs some serious punches.

Now if I lived in Hollywood and had a hand in the production of such a movie - I would have had the characters play the role a bit more seriously. Jon Voight played George Washington seriously and quite well. I think comedy is a dish best served cold. One of the reasons that Zucker's AIRPLANE! was such a hit was that he used actors like Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, and Leslie Nielsen to play out the zany storyline. Keep in mind that Leslie was not known as the fumbling oaf - the comedian that he is known today (thanks to the Zucker Bros). AIRPLANE! took people by surprise because they used the serious leading men of the 1960/1970's to be the straight men of their own lines. If you remember that it was Robert Stack that played the no-nonsense Eliot Ness of television's THE UNTOUCHABLES. Peter Graves was the original Mr. Phelps of the television show MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. Lloyd Bridges was Mike Nelson in SEA HUNT! So I think Zucker lost that punch somewhere along the way after making those Scary Movie sequels etc. Most of the stars in Airplane! played the role straight and serious. I think this movie would have been even better if more of the characters did the same - including Kevin Farley (the late Chris Farley's bro) who played the Michael Moore character - to the rolls of the terrorist who are trying to get him to make the Pro-Al-Qaeda movie. I think the explosions from the explosives should have been more realistic and damaging rather than the Benny Hill type treatment that was used.

It's a pretty good movie but could have been funnier as well as an effective message vehicle.