Tight Little Island (Whiskey Galore!)

1949 comedy

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Based on the true story of a tiny Scottish island whose inhabitants are mourning the lack of whiskey (oh, snap!) until a ship carrying boxes and boxes of the stuff wrecks within peeing distance. They grab as much as they can, but are forced to hide their booty when the authorities come to investigate.

Another winner from Ealing, this tight little movie manages to shove in a whole lot of funny into roughly the same amount of time one of those Robin Williams' improvisational ramblings lasts. I liked this movie like I like black licorice or like I like writing sentences with way too many likes in them. The flavor is undeniably unique, something that a lot of people might not be able to appreciate very much, but it hits just the right spot with me. The actors are absorbed into this dinky little seaside town, and it's the look at the characters as much as the look of the town that gives this so much color. This briskly paced farcical movie didn't waste any of my time. We're introduced to a conflict, a situation comes along to push things along humorously, and it ends. There wasn't anything that had me on the floor laughing my ass off (OTFLMAO as the kids say), but the situations kept a smile on my face almost the entire time. I really loved the townsfolk's attempt, shown in a delightful montage, to hide the plundered spirits. That's right, readers. I just used the word delightful. It's a good word to describe this movie actually. I do wonder if there's a better dvd release of this though. I wonder if this unfairly lost a rating point or two because of how murky the picture I got was. Maybe Criterion should take care of business with this one.

Another quality Cory recommendation. It's good to know that the guy's good for something! OTFLMAO!