Noises Off

1992 comedy

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Some people try to put on a play.

I don't know why I'd never even heard of this movie until faithful reader Josh included it as one of his twelve selections on his "Museum Movie" list. I'm glad he brought it up because it was comedy gold from start to finish.

This is a Peter Bogdanovich adaptation of a stage production, and I imagine the camera's ability to move around a bit makes it more enjoyable that it would be in the theater. A lot of movies based on plays feel a little stiff; this is vivacious, mostly because of a rapidfire series of gags and great lines. This is in three acts where we essentially get to see the play performed three times--once in a last-minute rehearsal, once a behind-the-scenes look while it's being performed for an audience, and once more during a performance in Cleveland. Real-life conflicts intensify and get in the way of a production that depends on timing and rapport of the ensemble cast, and disastrous failure really isn't ever funnier.

Speaking of timing and rapport and ensembles casts, that's really what makes this movie so much fun. I guess one could make the argument that the script is so good--self-referential, stuffed with irony, peppered with smart slapstick and great visual gags that a lot of people might not even catch the first time through--that any performers thrown in there would be fine. I thought this collective was fantastic though. I haven't liked Michael Caine this much in a long time as the exasperated, philandering director. Comic legend Carol Burnett gives a spirited performance. Christopher Reeve, who I don't think I'd normally associate with comedy, is almost too big and dorky to fit on stage with everybody, but he proves he had some comedy chops. John Ritter always makes anything he's in better. I always love seeing Julie Hagerty. And Denholm Elliott is hilarious, too. Even if you hate laughing and have no interest in watching a bunch of people trying to be funny, this is worth seeing to appreciate the timing of these actors, the masterful way the visual gags--a simple thing like opening and closing doors, for example--are set up, and these performers not trying to outdo each other but working with each other to create something magical.

This should be closer to a highly-regarded comedy classic than it is. It's quick and witty, faithful to traditional Hollywood comedy while still seeming completely fresh almost 25 years after its release.