Help!

1965 musical comedy

Rating: 15/20

Plot: A religious cult located in the Bahamas can't complete a sacrifice to their octopus god because the sacred ring is missing. Tough break since they'd already painted the woman red and everything! Somehow, Ringo's got that ring on his finger, and he can't get it off. The bad guys nefariously attempt to either get the ring or paint Ringo red to get him all ready to disembowel. Ringo and the other Marx Brothers flee, go skiing, explore a beach, sing some songs, and do other Beatle things.

Very entertaining and deadpanly funny movie although not as accomplished/consistently great as A Hard Day's Night. The story, I guess, doesn't matter a lot as it is just an excuse for numerous sight gags and other bits of nonsense. It is pretty loosey-goosey and chaotic though. The musical parts seem squeezed into the story, but I do really like how "A Hard Day's Night" keeps working its way into the soundtrack. Lester's direction is also pretty loosey-goosey, a good cross between fun and experimental, and there are some nice touches that make this artful nonsense instead of just nonsense. Moments as funny as Monty Python and the aforementioned Marx Brothers make this a movie that will likely still be fun in another forty-odd years. I'm sure this one isn't as good as Yellow Submarine though.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good review. I love the beginning where darts are suddenly being thrown at The Beatles on-screen. The movie is silly but the music and charm of the group are unbeatable (no pun intended). A 16.