Oscar

Saw Oscar (thanks, Chris!) It was a farce starring Stallone as a gangster trying to go straight on a day that the universe seems to be conspiring against him. I expected some rather dark humour but instead got a very goofy farce. Like most farces, it serves equally as a cautionary tale against being unable to explain yourself succinctly. This is a pure farce, uncut with any other style of film. Don't bother searching for trenchant allegory or rich symbolism, instead enjoy the film's simple misunderstandings and strange coincidences. Everyone's suitcases look identical, everyone claims to be everyone else, sanity is questioned at the drop of a hat, and everyone's bewildered. The film is light, funny, and frustrating. It keeps twists coming so furiously it seems to be composed entirely of twists.

The style of comedy is very kind. No one seems evil as a result of the jokes. Compare this to the comic style of the show Seinfeld (to take a well known example) where we usually laugh because the main characters are revealed to be so petty and mean. Here the characters are high-strung but (nearly) universally well-meaning. The villains are established as such at the very beginning and are even kind of humanized in the climax. Stallone, the don, struck me as kind of a wimpy gangster at first (oh he's clearly in charge, but he's a far cry from Brando's ominously growling godfather) but as the film progressed I realized we are meant to sympathize with him. It's not by accident that he's the most sympathetic character.

I'm not a big fan of farces. I prefer my comedy a bit crueler (I think Rick and Morty is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time and it often uses existential despair as a punchline) and find farces in particular kind of frustrating. I keep thinking if only they would explain themselves how much shorter the film would be. However these criticisms are more pointed toward the farce genre in general, rather than at this film in particular (and are completely my own personal tastes anyway so, y'know, feel free to ignore entirely.) This film is the epitome of a farce so, farce-lovers, dig in. Its a great piece of plate-spinning. Its plot is surprising and its heart is soft. It isn't blatantly sexist or racist, as the farces of the 20s often are, and although the main character is long-suffering he's doing so with one hand behind his back. I never felt sorry for him (as I did for the poor paleontologist in Bringing Up Baby) which is what usually ruins a classic farce for me. A nice film, is all senses of the word.