|
By
ETHAN CUHULINN
The basic premise, and a lot
of the story, stick pretty close to the original
1979 version of the "In-Laws" with Peter Falk and
Alan Arkin: A young man and woman are deeply in
love and try to plan their wedding despite their
parents' involvement: The young man's father
(Michael Douglas in the Falk role) introduces
himself as a Xerox salesman but is, in fact, a
daredevil CIA spy, while the young woman's father
is a mild-mannered podiatrist (Albert Brooks in
the Arkin role) with a multitude of neuroses. When
the two men meet their erratic behavior causes all
manner of chaotic situations and the wedding is
nearly called off.
I much prefer the original "In-Laws," which I
consider a minor comedy classic. It is hardly a
contest between them. While Douglas and Brooks do
a good job, both their characters and the way the
story is treated easily go over the top.
Especially the end which is yet another example of
the tendency of many Hollywood movies to try and
generate laughter by staging impressive disasters.
The '79 version worked precisely because it was a
smaller film, and allowed the audacity of the
premise to be undercut by understatement. In fact,
for a while it wasn't obvious that Falk's
character was indeed a secret agent and not merely
insane (his musings on giant bird-like tsetse
flies and the Guacamole Act of 1917 are a comedic
showstopper). And when we realize he does have a
secret and dangerous life, we're not sure he's
actually one of the good guys or a rogue. In the
current version the first level of ambiguity is
gone and we know immediately that the Douglas
character is mixed up in something nefarious, for
or against the government.
What is equally funny, for different reasons, in
both movies is the role of the comedic bad guy: In
the original the hilarious Richard Libertini
played a likable yet rather mad and ruthless
leader of a small Central American country; in
this version David Suchet (of TV's "Poirot" fame)
is a gay, ruthless arms merchant who's also
implausibly likable. He falls for Brooks uptight
podiatrist and their scenes together are the best
the film has to offer.
Extra features include a commentary track by
director Andrew Fleming, a gag reel, three
additional scenes, alternate scenes with Brooks
and trailers for both versions. |
