Year: 1991
Runtime: 109 min
Director: John Landis
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Peter Riegert, Marisa Tomei, Vincent Spano, Chazz Palminteri, Ornella Muti, Tim Curry, Kurtwood Smith.
Since time immemorial, small misunderstandings have been the source for comedy gold. The comedy of errors is a popular form of entertainment, and a particularly enduring one that has lasted far longer than cinema itself. The theater is a favorite home for this type of comedy and it’s fitting that Oscar began life on that stage, because this is an adaption of Claude Magnier’s play of the same name.
Directed by 1980s comedy stalwart John Landis from a script by Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland, Oscar transplants the plot of the play to the start of the 1930s, with mobsters in place of businessmen. This is a change for the better because, honestly, who doesn’t love pinstripes?
The general plot is far too deliciously convoluted for any sort of detailed recap. Suffice to say it all takes place over the course of a single day, starting at 8:30 and ending at noon. This is a momentous day as it is the day that “Snaps” Provolone, infamous mob boss, is going straight. The former gangster is honoring a deathbed promise made to his father and becoming a different sort of crook: A banker.
It’s a sound plan and seems ready to go. All he has to do is meet with the bankers at noon without anything ruining the day. And of course, that day is going to be fantastically ruined.
It all starts with an unexpected morning visit from his accountant, which leads to trouble when the young man asks for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Except, the woman he believes is Provolone’s daughter is, well, not. Oh and he stole $50,000 from his employer to give to this bride-to-be. This leads into a very complex case of mistaken identity, a false pregnancy, a mad dash hunt for a potential husband to save face, and a rotating series of identical little black bags that contain either jewels, $50,000 in cash, or the maid’s underwear depending upon the time of day.
There are so many different characters all with their own motivations that it is a testament to Landis’s ability at juggling their time in front of the camera so that we, the audience, are never lost. Which is more than I can say for the characters, who alternate from bewildered to baffled at a moment’s notice.
The only one trying to make sense of everything happening on this, the busiest day of his life, is Sylvester Stallone as “Snaps” Provolone. He tries to manipulate everyone so that he walks away with exactly what he wants: A husband for his suddenly pregnant daughter (except she isn’t), the money his accountant stole from him to give as a dowry to his daughter (or the woman he thinks is his daughter), and of course to become a respectable banker.
A new maid would probably be a good idea as well since she’s quitting to marry the man he had original selected as his daughter’s potential husband.
This is a delightful madcap farce in the tradition of the old screwball comedies from a bygone era. It’s filmed on limited sets, like a proper play, and it has a personality that comes through strong, especially with the constant old timey slang espoused by a scene stealing Peter Riegert, who portrays Provolone’s former lieutenant (now butler) with all the sarcasm and wit he can muster, while chewing on stogie in every scene.
Actually, the entire cast does a magnificent job. With one notable exception. Stallone struggles with his lines and comes off as incredibly stiff while everyone else acts circle around him. At least he was given the straight man’s job in most scenes, opposed by Riegert or Chazz Palminteri playing a slow-witted henchman. But it should be telling that even with Stallone’s mediocre performance, the movie still shines and the laughs still flow.
Everyone else is just a delight, including a young Marisa Tomei as Provolone’s petulant daughter (the real one, not the fake one), the aforementioned Reigert and Palminteri, Ornella Muti as Provolone’s exceptionally loud and commanding wife, and even a small turn by Tim Curry as a linguistics teacher who gets roped into the family drama. There are others, of course, some who only have a scene or two, but they all imbue their roles with a sense of personality, no matter how little screen time they get.
Of course, your enjoyment might depend on how much you love Hollywood’s fictionalization of the 1930s. Me? I love it. I love the old cars, the New York brownstones, the suits, the slang, all of it. Sure, it’s a sanitized view of a time that was decidedly unfun, but that’s why this is a comedy! If I wanted a documentary I’d go see whichever Ken Burns special they were airing on PBS.
The movie definitely plays with its period setting, from references to the Kaiser or how kids have been corrupted by the music of Bing Crosby (naturally the worst thing since that scoundrel Beethoven), but you don’t need to be some kind of historian to appreciate the movie, as these are really just small touches in the grand scheme of the plot.
It’s a fast-paced film that wastes no time. Every single scene zips along with brevity and humor. The tone would have been perfectly at home if the movie had been made in the 1940s, though it’s a good deal more modern, poking fun at some of the outdated mores of the period, particularly the notion of unwed motherhood and what constitutes respectability in society’s eyes.
It is mostly full of verbal sparring that would have been worthy of delivery by the Brothers Marx, but it manages to sneak in plenty of slapstick as well, giving us variety in the chuckle department. It’s harmless good fun. These are not Goodfellas-type gangsters. Tommy guns are in short supply and nobody sleeps with the fishes.
I’ll admit it, I laughed long and hard at some of the sequences here. I’m a sucker for the stage and the particular style of comedy that thrives when you have two or three actors just playing off each other. To me this delivered the goods. There are no absurdly big set pieces—this is not a Mel Brooks spoof, after all. And that’s just fine. This movie is confident in its abilities and it delivers the laughs where it counts, building up to a satisfying conclusion that ties even the most absurd threads into neat little bows.
Just remember to go in accepting Stallone’s abilities for what they are and you’ll be just fine.
