I had high hopes for this film because of the cast.
My wife and I sat through it looking at one another and wondering if it was all a joke. I kept expecting someone to yell, "CUT" and have it turn out to be a film within a film about the making of a terrible film.
The screenplay is a mess. Lines that may have seemed cute to the writer on a lonely night, but which are painful on the screen. A plot that is truly idiotic.
But it is not only the writing. The directing is terrible, too. It literally looks like an attempt to portray a really bad film in a film about film. Decent actors stand around looking as if they have no idea what to do. In crowd scenes, people run around waving sticks -- looking like the ending of Blazing Saddles.
The acting is generally bad -- although with this plot and these lines, how could it be good? Sharon Stone is not too bad not playing herself -- but the role she plays is not very interesting. Others make fools of themselves. Even Woody Allen is bad as himself.
A couple of well known actors are so bad that you don't even know who they are. They screw up their faces (FD) of wear caps that cover their faces (LDP). I suspect they were hoping not to be recognized.
The casting is strange. All the Mexicans are played by Hispanics. But all the Catholic clergy are played by Jews. There is no reason why a Jewish actor should not play a Catholic priest or nun. But what is the possible reason for having only obviously Jewish actors play Catholic clergy? I guess because it's supposed to be funny. It wasn't. It worked about as well as a SNL skit.
I suspect that the offensive language and treatment of the Church was also supposed to be funny. It was only offensive.
I went to a performance at Second City in Chicago a while back (it used to be one of my favorites). I noticed that it is now considered humor to simply make some extremely offensive comment about Catholicism. Not a comment that is itself funny or that even tries to be funny. But a comment that is supposed to be funny only because the act of saying it is funny. Much of this film is at this level of "sophistication."
My wife and I speculated that whoever got the actors to play in it must have gotten somebody's black book with which to blackmail them. Why else would talented people have allowed themselves to be humiliated?
MAYBE this will turn up on VHS. I hope not
My wife and I sat through it looking at one another and wondering if it was all a joke. I kept expecting someone to yell, "CUT" and have it turn out to be a film within a film about the making of a terrible film.
The screenplay is a mess. Lines that may have seemed cute to the writer on a lonely night, but which are painful on the screen. A plot that is truly idiotic.
But it is not only the writing. The directing is terrible, too. It literally looks like an attempt to portray a really bad film in a film about film. Decent actors stand around looking as if they have no idea what to do. In crowd scenes, people run around waving sticks -- looking like the ending of Blazing Saddles.
The acting is generally bad -- although with this plot and these lines, how could it be good? Sharon Stone is not too bad not playing herself -- but the role she plays is not very interesting. Others make fools of themselves. Even Woody Allen is bad as himself.
A couple of well known actors are so bad that you don't even know who they are. They screw up their faces (FD) of wear caps that cover their faces (LDP). I suspect they were hoping not to be recognized.
The casting is strange. All the Mexicans are played by Hispanics. But all the Catholic clergy are played by Jews. There is no reason why a Jewish actor should not play a Catholic priest or nun. But what is the possible reason for having only obviously Jewish actors play Catholic clergy? I guess because it's supposed to be funny. It wasn't. It worked about as well as a SNL skit.
I suspect that the offensive language and treatment of the Church was also supposed to be funny. It was only offensive.
I went to a performance at Second City in Chicago a while back (it used to be one of my favorites). I noticed that it is now considered humor to simply make some extremely offensive comment about Catholicism. Not a comment that is itself funny or that even tries to be funny. But a comment that is supposed to be funny only because the act of saying it is funny. Much of this film is at this level of "sophistication."
My wife and I speculated that whoever got the actors to play in it must have gotten somebody's black book with which to blackmail them. Why else would talented people have allowed themselves to be humiliated?
MAYBE this will turn up on VHS. I hope not