Reviews

Now all he has to do is find a talented director. The character of "Mr Sunshine" is a tractor beam to all of the nervous nerdy types who look for direction in how to handle social situations in life... from their television. I am one of these people. Obviously, Matthew is putting himself out there... and coming on as a somewhat more animated Bob Newhart character... and it works.

Chandler Bing lives, indeed, in the character of Ben Donovan. This would be him some years later... after the young adult stage of marrying Monica, etc. He is the caring, passionate general manager of a sports stadium in San Diego. Fortunately for us, the audience... none of his staff or the owner gives a damn about their job! He is the one sane man in the character list of the show whose last nerve is being stepped on minute by minute by the crazies who surround him in his life.

Those who feel paranoid about life being out to get them will feel at home and identify with this man surrounded by demonized nutsoes who live to make his life hell! (Fortunately for us, again!) ...As Larry David responded to Jason Alexander of Seinfeld upon questioning the believability of the show scripts for Seinfeld, "Yes, this all can happen. I know...these scripts are based on true events from my life...I lived it!" Perry must be ADHD, as I am. The funny lines come so quickly you will really need to set your VCR to play this back again to see things that you missed.

My one criticism and caveat with the whole show is the direction. The verbal deliveries and timing of some of the lines is sometimes sloppy. Funny can be lost in sloppy editing and direction. A second or two too long in a shot after a line can destroy a good joke. Too quick of a response to a question by a character can destroy the credibility. Too low of a volume level on a punchline by one of the main characters can make a joke non-existent.

The writing is funny, and flawless. Kudos to Mr Perry and company. Translation to proper acting and character direction is crucial in getting "funny" across to the audience. The direction appears amateurish. I noticed on several occasions (with two episodes broadcast so far) that camera shots are too tight. In older classic sitcoms you will notice most of the time a tight shot does not serve comedy well. Tight face shots work well in drama and soap operas, not comedy. Witness the original sitcom of Perry, "Friends." It is much funnier to see the whole room of characters in a scene all respond to funny lines than it is to just see a tight shot of the character speaking. (Pull the cameras back a little.)

Comedy is a group thing because the moment we are laughing is usually because the character is in a situation where he is not laughing. There is tension and stress on the character... but we are convulsing wildly on the floor gasping for air. Would love to see a James Burrows or a James Widdoes directing this sitcom. The writing and brilliant creation of Matthew Perry here certainly deserves it.

Shatner pulls another one out of his... @$$. Of course with the executive producers from Will & Grace, things can only be first class. Well... mostly. The funny lines of Shatner and his own comedy talents make up for the short falling of the rest of the show. Ideally, nothing is ever perfect. (In a perfect world, William Shatner would not have to buy hair...) Expect lots of star cameos and witty writing. Expect a lot of stepping on political correctness and spanking it's @$$. After all, that's what this series is all about... PC meets Old School.

Shatner does not look 79...more like 59... and "Henry" looks to be in his thirties...which he is (31). Therefore, the premise works, unlike "Retired at 35". Sadowski is superior to McClain by far...although we could have hoped for Zach Braff to take the lead role of "Henry". Second string ain't bad...but the snap of a seasoned star like Braff would have helped tremendously to support the wit of the lead "Ed" played by Shatner...brilliantly as usual.

The writing is coming along to support the premise and the main characters...but has not yet bloomed into its potential. Bottom line...the best new show of the season on any network. Perhaps the best show on any network... period. Including "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory." My VCR is set. I never miss it.

This is the kind of sitcom that grows on you... it starts out as a subtle chuckle in your soul... and after a few weeks you just fall in love with the cast and premise. It's not perfect... but no television show is. All you can hope for is that they use what they have to work with to the best of their abilities. They mostly do. An excellent product from the Will & Grace producers.

A note about the lead actors. Clark Gregg seems to have the potential and the low key deadpan acting abilities of a young Bob Newhart. Hopefully some executive producers will notice this and use it as a gift to the television audience. I could plug Bob Newhart in mentally into his role and the lines work as written. Clark's direction obviously was not to do a deadpan buttoned down role. Too bad. He would have been great. This was a role in which less would have been so much more. Clark Gregg needs to dress up, take authority, and remove all emotion from his delivery. It would work.

The premise is a young executive son moving back in with his parents. The cast is wonderful... with the exception of one actor... the lead (Johnathan McClain) who is just God awful in comedy... it just does not work. And what a wonderful backing cast... all with talent, all who CAN act. McClain lacks the interpretation, the timing, the physical comedy cues that make a great lead actor in a great sitcom.

McClain appears about 20 years too young for the lead role of "Dave." George Segal, playing his father, looks about 40 years older than the son... too bad they did not cast Clark Gregg from "New Adventures Of Old Christine" for example in the role... a Bob Newhart kind of character actor who could carry this role off. Matthew Perry would of course be the perfect ideal lead actor in this series, but I imagine his asking price is about a million an episode as of this writing. Average sitcom writing, great acting by all except for the atrocious McClain.

Rent it, buy it, just to see the classic comic performances, timing, and natural talent of Perry. Really, this guy's reactions to all things nerve wracking had me on the floor. Watch carefully as you put yourself into HIS shoes while watching this movie...hard to identify with a contract killer, played ably by Bruce Willis. Bruce is the straight man and does his part, while the role reversal in the opening scenes is a natural scream.

I felt technically there were a couple of problems to nit pick in the direction and editing areas. Some of the comedy bits were OVER played and lasted too long...not the actor's faults...that is editing or direction. The actors did a marvelous job. But, heavy talent, and a VERY funny script must be seen. Pollak overdid Lazlo...the heavy overdone accent clipped out a lot of funny lines for me, and the closed captioning was not working correctly. I think Pollak could have been much more effective, funny, and convincing in his part if he did not add the Jerry Lewis overacting style to the part. It detracted from what was and is a VERY funny script, excellent acting by ALL the rest of the cast, and a great job by the director of photography and most of the crew.

How funny is a contract killer as an obsessive compulsive cook and homemaker? Very! How great was Mat Perry in the part of a good "Joe" all American who has to deal with dangerous underworld people...? Hysterical. Gagging and sucking for air on the floor pleading for mercy funny. Really funny. Love to see more good scripts for Perry.

This is it. If you have been studying film, and want to know which of all mass released movies (MGM) is the WORST one ever filmed, this is the one.

See it just once just to know what BAD REALLY is... if you can think of or name a CATEGORY of film-making, this one deserves a manure award for that category.

Photography...awful...grainy... Sound...poorly miked, garbled Acting...nothing funny here...just two punks saying the "F" word every ten seconds Direction...Could a movie be MORE segmented, unfollowable, and had a worse scene coverage than THIS one...? Don't think so. Writing...or more like, WHAT writing...most of the movie consists of poorly filmed shapes saying "Hello" to each other. NOTHING funny here.

Save the money if you need it. If you want to study BAD film-making, study THIS ONE! Calling this movie crap gives a bad name to the word crap.

Too bad Steve Martin did not take the part of Kit Ramsey...I believe as Steve Martin wrote the screenplay, he wrote the part taken by Eddie Murphy in a style best befitting Steve Martin... not Eddie Murphy.

I can easily see Martin doing all the lines and visual facial expressions better. The part of Bowfinger in the movie could have been played by either Bill Murray or Chevy Chase. Need that kind of a believable half-wit character type.

What do you think?

A starving desperate screenwriter / producer named Bowfinger played by Martin, trap-shoots a movie (by ambush) featuring a hot actor in Hollywood ... Kit Ramsey. Great writing. Unfortunate waste of talent with miscasting. Illegal aliens and borrowed credit cards might get his movie made yet! Steve Martin is a gifted screenwriter...and very capable of doing the parts that he acts in. Just a terrific premise...would like to see it redone with Martin and a new cast...and punching up some of the scenes...this is a deep well...you can come back and remake this movie a few more times!