The Man with One Red Shoe

1985 action comedy

Rating: 7/20

Plot: For reasons I've completely forgotten, a guy wants to trick the CIA into setting up surveillance on a completely random guy at an airport, the titular red-shoed guy actually. The CIA guys fall for it. My plot synopsis is funnier than anything in this movie.

Actually, Tom Hanks was probably a lot funnier in Philadelphia. After a really lengthy exposition leading to the introduction of Hanks' character, I figured things might pick up. They didn't. Weak ideas were stretched into weak gags. Tom Hanks brushes his teeth with shampoo. His plumbing is screwed up. He takes a softball to the head. He gets AIDS. His best bud's wife makes chimpanzee sounds. A woman's hair gets caught in his zipper. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. That all looks hilarious on paper. And I'm sure that's what the screenwriters were thinking. Unfortunately, there wasn't a single moment where I was glad I was watching this movie. And don't get me started on the plot and its potential holes. Any plot here was just an excuse to pile improbabilities on top of improbabilities for supposedly comedic purposes. And why were there so many crooked shots in this? I wondered several times if I had started to doze off and tilted my head, but apparently the camera was just askew. The only thing that made this movie worth my time is that it's the second "man" movie I've seen in a row with Tom Noonan. He's improbably and hilariously injured in this one!

No comments: