Set in the 1960s, this little-known independent film was in limited release so that the majority of movie fans have probably never heard of it. DOUGLAS McGRATH is a CIA man who recounts tales of his misadventures to a couple of senators. The cast is sprinkled with some famous names: SIGOURNEY WEAVER, RYAN PHILLIPPE and JOHN TURTURRO among them, with a brief glimpse of WOODY ALLEN.
All of the plot involves the attempt at overthrowing Fidel Castro during the period of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. All of the cast gets into the farcical nature of their roles, but none better than ALAN CUMMING as Gen. Batista, wackily funny in a role that has him ending up playing piano in a Florida nightclub singing "Diamonds Are A Boy's Best Friend." He makes the most of lines such as: "My great passion was the piano. Mamacita told me I must have something to fall back on, so I became a dictator." Sigourney Weaver has her share of memorable punch lines too and plays the role of McGrath's social climbing wife without ever becoming a caricature. She's obviously more skillful at farce than Ryan Phillippe as Petrov, the Russian dancer, who assumes a heavy accent but doesn't seem to know he's in a comedy. ANTHONY LaPAGLIA is effective as Fidel Castro and, in a smaller role, TUCK MILLIGAN does a nice job of impersonating President Kennedy.
It's clever stuff and there's plenty to chuckle at, but I never found it downright hilarious as some others have commented.
While I found John Turturro's performance a bit excessive as the maniacal anti-Castro activist, he seems to be relishing the chance at a comical role that requires a lot of energy to play. Only trouble is it seems a bit forced at times.
Summing up: Wacky light-weight farce is funny enough in places, but there's nothing memorable here. And what's with WOODY ALLEN in an uncredited supporting role? As usual, he plays his nerdy self.
All of the plot involves the attempt at overthrowing Fidel Castro during the period of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. All of the cast gets into the farcical nature of their roles, but none better than ALAN CUMMING as Gen. Batista, wackily funny in a role that has him ending up playing piano in a Florida nightclub singing "Diamonds Are A Boy's Best Friend." He makes the most of lines such as: "My great passion was the piano. Mamacita told me I must have something to fall back on, so I became a dictator." Sigourney Weaver has her share of memorable punch lines too and plays the role of McGrath's social climbing wife without ever becoming a caricature. She's obviously more skillful at farce than Ryan Phillippe as Petrov, the Russian dancer, who assumes a heavy accent but doesn't seem to know he's in a comedy. ANTHONY LaPAGLIA is effective as Fidel Castro and, in a smaller role, TUCK MILLIGAN does a nice job of impersonating President Kennedy.
It's clever stuff and there's plenty to chuckle at, but I never found it downright hilarious as some others have commented.
While I found John Turturro's performance a bit excessive as the maniacal anti-Castro activist, he seems to be relishing the chance at a comical role that requires a lot of energy to play. Only trouble is it seems a bit forced at times.
Summing up: Wacky light-weight farce is funny enough in places, but there's nothing memorable here. And what's with WOODY ALLEN in an uncredited supporting role? As usual, he plays his nerdy self.