Sometimes a dumb comedy provides much-needed laughs
I took a break from seeing movies in the theaters the last
couple weeks since most of the new releases have been horror films,
a genre of which I am not a fan. I don’t care for movies that aim
to scare me too much, but I do love movies that make me laugh.
It was when I looked for some comedies that are out on DVD that
I discovered a couple that may not be great movies, but that have
plenty of good laughs in them.
Spring Breakdown
”
Spring Breakdown,
”
starring Amy Poehler, Parker Posey and Rachel Dratch, was never
released in the theaters, but it is a hilarious gem of a movie for
anyone who is a fan of the comedians and actor Posey.
Sometimes a dumb comedy provides much-needed laughs
I took a break from seeing movies in the theaters the last couple weeks since most of the new releases have been horror films, a genre of which I am not a fan. I don’t care for movies that aim to scare me too much, but I do love movies that make me laugh.
It was when I looked for some comedies that are out on DVD that I discovered a couple that may not be great movies, but that have plenty of good laughs in them.
Spring Breakdown
“Spring Breakdown,” starring Amy Poehler, Parker Posey and Rachel Dratch, was never released in the theaters, but it is a hilarious gem of a movie for anyone who is a fan of the comedians and actor Posey.
Gayle (Poehler), Becky (Posey) and Judi (Dratch) are best friends who were dorky in college and thought life would get better for them when their real lives started. But the three remain in dead-end jobs or relationships. Becky is heartbroken when her cat dies, Gayle is turned down for a date by a blind man and Judi’s fiancee William (Seth Meyers) seems more interested in the pool boy than in her.
The three are in the middle of planning their annual road trip when Becky has an opportunity that could ignite her flailing career in politics. She is an aide for Sen. Kay Bee Hartmann (played by Jane Lynch of “Glee”) and the senator asks Becky to go to South Padre Island to make sure the senator’s teenage daughter Ashley doesn’t do anything that would hurt the campaign.
Becky and her friends plan to head to spring break, befriend Ashley and keep the college student out of trouble. When they arrive, however, the booze flows freely and suddenly Judi and Gayle are less interested in their mission. Judi discovers a handsome co-ed who keeps her attention for most of the trip while Gayle falls in with a group of popular girls.
Becky, meanwhile, finds that Ashley isn’t the popular party animal her mother imagines her to be, but a geeky girl who is trying to win back her boyfriend who left her for one of the popular girls. Perhaps the funniest thing in the movie is Missi Pyle as a woman who has been attending spring break for 20 years.
The movie is a dumb comedy, for sure, but it was funny enough that I watched it and two days later when my sister started watching it, I started laughing in anticipation of every joke that was on its way. It’s sort of the way I feel when I catch reruns of “The Office” or “30 Rock” – I laugh until my sides hurt.
The Maiden Heist
Another movie that went straight to DVD is “The Maiden Heist.” It caught my eye because of the cast, which includes Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken and William H. Macy. When I read the back of the movie cover, I rented it because I have a weak spot for crime capers. Though the movie is not as funny as “Welcome to Collinwood,” which is about bumbling criminals and also stars Macy, it was entertaining enough for a weekend when not much was out.
Roger (Walken) is a museum security guard who spends his days gazing at the same painting each day. His wife (played by Marcia Gay Harden) puts money away every week from the tips she gets from her job as a hairstylist in a cookie jar for a trip to Florida. She really wants to retire there, but instead is settling for a future vacation.
In the evenings, after his long days at the museum, Roger retires to his living room and opens a book and turns to a page that has a picture of the painting he stares at all day long at work. It becomes clear that he is obsessed with the painting.
Roger’s life is thrown for a loop when the museum curators announce that the permanent exhibit is moving to a museum in Copenhagen. Roger panics at the thought of never seeing his painting again. But he soon finds he is not alone when he discovers Charles (Freeman), a fellow security guard who is weeping in front of a painting of a young woman pouring milk into a saucer for two cats. The duo discuss their options, which include moving to Copenhagen to work in the museum there or stealing the paintings. They soon enlist George (Macy), another security guard who also has an unhealthy obsession with a work of art, and they start planning for their heist.
The trio comes up with what seems like a good plan, but gets tripped up plenty along the way. The casting is impeccable as no one else could have played the art obsessed trio with such straight faces as Freeman, Walken and Macy, perhaps because Walken and Macy are known for their quirky roles and Freeman can pull off anything.
