Thursday, February 21, 2008

The Man with One Red Shoe

The Man with One Red Shoe

Okay, I fondly remember watching this on HBO back in the day. Stan Dragoti, who has only gone on directed six other movies, directed this 1985 comedy. After watching this movie and Necessary Roughness, you can see why he hasn’t worked since.

When I was a little child, I couldn’t see the bad joke set-ups and the poor edits. Now that I’m all grown-up, I can see this movie for what it is, a mess. But, it is not a total mess. Being a ‘cold war’ movie, it hasn’t aged well.

Now, that’s not to say the movie doesn’t have some good points to it. Tom Hanks is great as the nobody that these spies pick to make a major case out of a scandal. Hanks’ character is playful and foolish enough not to notice all the spies trying to capture or bugged him. Hanks isn’t the only one worth seeing either.

The movie is comprised of a good cast. Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Carrie Fisher, James Belushi, Edward Herrmann, and David Ogden Stiers all play good roles in the movie. You could never get a more seasoned cast in a comedy film today. It just wouldn’t happen.

However, the script is a little unstable. Sometimes scenes go nowhere and jokes fall little flat, but I like the central concept about this random guy being swept into this spy war. Don’t expect much from the rushed ending too. So, it certainly isn’t as good as Big, but it isn’t one of Hanks worst movies by a long shot.

Grade: C+

Best line in the movie that keeps me laughing today: "ARDIE BETGO INDYO CEFAR OGGEL." What the hell is this?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I liked this movie, but you're right, it falls down a lot.

I prefer watching The Man Who Knew Too Little as my favourite 'guy who's been mistaken for a spy' flick.

Semaj said...

I just watched it on DVD recently, I wondered if they didnt leave some storylines on the cutting room floor, but the DVD had no extras to speak of at all.

I got a kick out of The Man that knew too little" as well.

 
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