I've always felt this week's film is underappreciated at best. I recently found a copy of it on DVD (for some reason, I had never upgraded my old VHS copy) and watched it again for the first time in many years and now I can't get it out of my head. In hindsight, I find it kind of sad that it wasn't a bigger hit when it was released in 1992. In fact, the film was such a commercial failure that Billy Crystal (the film's star, co-writer, and director) made City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold to make up for it.
In
the film, Crystal plays Buddy Young Jr. (a character he had developed
over time on various TV specials as well as "Saturday Night Live"), a
comic whose heyday was during the "Golden Age of Television" in the
1950s. Now in his 70s, he never quite reached the level of success he
feels he should have, the jobs aren't coming to him like they used to,
the face of comedy has changed drastically over his life, and he's
struggling to find his place in it. As he frequently points out in the
film, he has no winter. I would personally describe him as an analogue
soul in an increasingly digital universe.
The
film flashes back and forth between the present day (with the three
principal characters made up to look old) and the 1950s where we see
Buddy in his prime, working in the Catskills, and later on his own
variety show. As we watch his life unfold, we come to root for him...
even though, he's not really that nice of a guy. And (from this
viewer's perspective) I get the impression that he's not necessarily
trying to be a jerk. In fact, I'm unsure if he even realizes he is one.
But he does have a bit of a temper and an overdeveloped sense of
sarcasm that tend to combine when things don't go his way, often with
disastrous results. You want to love the guy, but you also kind of want
to hate him.
With
the exception of his wife Elaine (played by Julie Warner), Buddy treats
even his close relatives rather poorly, whether he realizes it or not.
His main punching bag is his manager, brother, and one-time partner
Stan (played by David Paymer, whose body of work I feel is as
underappreciated as this film). Near the beginning of the film, after
decades of abuse at the hands of his brother, Stan decides to retire to
Florida, leaving Buddy to fend for himself, really for the first time in
his life. Their relationship is really the centerpiece of the whole
movie and we have the pleasure of seeing a great deal of it through
Stan's eyes. In fact, Paymer's performance received a much-deserved
Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor (too bad he was up against Al
Pacino, Jack Nicholson, and Gene Hackman).
As
I said above, the film was a commercial flop when it was released
theatrically in 1992. And yet somehow, it's managed to have a second
life. Just in time for its 30th anniversary, the film was adapted into a
Broadway musical. Crystal and Paymer reprised their roles as Buddy and
Stan. Given the fact that the actors had aged 30 years since the movie
was made, there was apparently less old age makeup for the contemporary
scenes. In spite of the poor performance of the source material, the
musical received five Tony Award nominations including Best Musical.
Crystal also got a nomination for Best Actor in a musical.
In
spite of those later accolades--or maybe because of them--I felt that
this week's film deserves another look. As I wrote above, Crystal not
only acted in the film, he also directed it and wrote the screenplay
with legendary comedy writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (the three
also wrote the book for the musical, getting a Tony nomination for that
as well). Featuring Helen Hunt, Ron Silver, Jerry Orbach, and Mary
Mara, this week, I recommend Mr. Saturday Night. I also recommend you have a box of tissue on hand while watching it.
Until
next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember
that if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for
you.
Yours in peace, love, and rock and roll!
The Reverend Will the Thrill
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