1984 unreleased near-masterpiece
Rating: 15/20
Plot: Adam Beckett wants to be an artist. Unfortunately, he isn't able to pass the artist test given by the governing body in this dystopian New York--the Port Authority. He's assigned to a job watching traffic until he befriends a homeless person, discovers secrets subterranean, falls in love, and takes a trip to the moon on a flying bus.
Fascinating little unreleased gem here, reminiscent of Cory McAbee (The American Astronaut) without the music or a quieter Terry Gilliam or even shane-movies favorite Guy Maddin. It's got Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd, both who seem like they're doing their best to blend. They're supporting players here, but Murray's lunar bus conductor is a fun enough character. He's got one very Bill Murray bit of physical comedy where he leaps onto a moon golf cart and kicks his leg up. If you saw it, you'd say, "Yep, there's Bill Murray!" The main character's played by Zach Galligan, fresh off his work in Gremlins, and he's a likable Everyman. Eddie Fisher also makes an appearance as himself, but you can ignore every single person in this movie because it also features the legendary Larry "Bud" Melman (Calvert DeForest) with a performance as brilliant as you'd expect it to be. And that alone makes this worth digging up, especially for David Letterman fans. Lawrence Tierney also makes an appearance in this thing, by the way. Oh, and an old lady who I know I've seen before who might be the worst actress I've ever seen. She says, "Is that Eddie Fisher? I thought he was dead. I'm one of his biggest fans!" like she knows she's got to get the words out before she forgets them. This has a surreal pace and some weird subtle touches--an outrageous mustaches, a poster for "Civil Defense" with a mushroom cloud--that give it a unique style. It's also got a little nudity for a gag that is easily the closest laugh-out-loud funny moment in the movie--the Port Authority's art test. And nudity in a PG-rated movie is always nice to see. This movie's got a fun mismatch of styles, from 1940's melodrama with a boisterous score to bleakly satirical stuff poking at the art world (a shirtless German artist counting to a million while on a treadmill) and consumerism (the daffy "It's a Small World" type song that plays ad nauseam on the moon) to low-budget sci-fi. Dig those moon effects, so awesomely quaint. And I had no clue that the moon was inhabited by Hawaiians. The cinematography, mostly black and white but with a few Wizard-esque color sequences, is impressive, the first half with this greasy dreaminess while the moon stuff is all technicolor cheese. This might not be anybody's favorite movie, but folks who like their comedies a little on the weird side will be glad they checked it out.
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