Customer Reviews

The Impostors [VHS]

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

It is no surprise that The Impostors didn't do much at the boxoffice. In a time when gross-out comedies are the rule, this stylish, charming effort is definitely the exception. What modern audiences may not realize is that comedy covers a rather broad area. Way back in the 1930s, W. C. Fields was doing now classic movies which were rude, crude and very funny, depending on what you finds amusing. In those days - and for the next fifty years - many different types of comedies were made. Perhaps today the media tends to want to believe the public's tastes are universally the same. I know that Hollywood's marketing strategies seem to come from one common pool of thought, which is why it often cannot market anything not fitting a certain mold.

The Impostors is a fond tribute to a gentler form of humor. Writer, director and star Stanley Tucci has proven with this and 1996's Big Night that he is one of our brightest independent film makers. His biggest attribute is his ability to make us laugh at certain stereotypes without ever being cruel. His is a loving touch.

The time seems to be the 1940s. Tucci and Oliver Platt play Maurice and Arthur, who are best friends and very out of work New York actors. Maurice is tall and thin and seems to be the heart of the pair, while short, chubby Maurice is its brain. Trying to con a baker out of some pastries, they wind up getting tickets to a production of Hamlet instead. During the performance the star, whom they can't stand anyway, winds up getting too drunk to finish the play. Later, in a bar, they are caught by the actor doing a rowdy impression of him. He becomes irate, and in the ensuing chase, the two somehow wind up as stowaways on a luxury liner. Naturally, the star winds up being one of the boat's passengers.

The ship is peopled with delightful eccentrics, including a broke socialite and her depressed daughter, a deposed queen, a gay tennis star, a psychotic Arabian sheik and a couple of fortune hunters. For the most part, the crew is equally mad, and Maurice and Arthur find themselves trapped in this madhouse at sea.

The film is full of sight gags and one-liners, most of which work. Lili Taylor, who later this year will appear as Eleanor in the remake of The Haunting and as Janis Joplin in the movie of the same name, is delightful as the sympathetic social director. Steve Buscemi nearly steals his scenes as a heartbroken crooner ironically named Happy Frank.

I really enjoyed this little jewel, and a most viewers with a sense of the absurd should, too. I even liked the movie's tag line. "Why be yourself when you can be somebody else"? I am really looking forward to Mr. Tucci's next effort.

The Imposters is a classic farce. The film is not only hilarious, but also packed with talented actors. (I haven't seen this many cameo's since The Muppet Movie.) Stanley Tucci and Oliver Platt play two umeployed actors in New York during the 1920's. They accidently become stow-aways on a classy ocean liner. Not only are they stow-aways, but a rival actor on the boat is out to destroy them. The comedy in this movie is not only brilliant, but extremely entertaining.

Hat's off to Stanley Tucci for directing, writing, and starring in the most refreshingly original comedy I've seen since The Blues Brothers. This is a relentless character-driven comedy set in a timeless style reminiscent of the golden age of Hollywood. From the opening scene until the end of the credits this movie will hypnotize you with incredibly well timed physical comedy and perfectly delivered dialogue that lift the classicly esoteric situations to a new level of genius. This movie is not only well written but brilliantly realized by an incredible supporting cast including Billy Connely, Isabella Rosellini, Steve Buscemi and Campbell Scott.

I rented this movie on a whim one night ... I watched it 10 times in three days ! It was amazing ! The humor is very Marx Brother-ish, and the cast is amazing ! This is a true crowing moment for Stanley Tucci. I had seen him in other movies, but he always seemed to be " that guy in that movie ", very familiar. But this is a glory moment for him. This is a must won for an comedy fan !!!

After the dubious merits of Big Night (in spite of winning awards, etc.), Stanley Tucci crafted this perfect gem of a comedy. While Big Night seemed to strain for its laughs, this one's a flawless laugh riot. At the beginning of the film, Tucci, very clever in his writing, evokes Laurel and Hardy--he's paired with Oliver Platt and the two are so redolent of the famous comedy duo of the past it's uncanny. In fact, in one scene, Tucci's expressions are a dead ringer for Stan Laurel's. I nearly fell off my chair!

In another scene, one of Tucci's disguises calls to mind Groucho Marx and while he doesn't mimic Groucho's lines or behavior, the look is also reminiscent enough to bring up a chuckle or two.

But it's not the calling to mind of past comedians that supplies the bulk of the humor--it's the clever situations. Tucci and Platt, playing unemployed actors, fall in with as diverse a group of characters as you could hope to find on board a pleasure cruise ship. Bearing in mind that the setting is the 30s, the dialogue snaps, crackles and pops, and the actors are all great. Campbell Scott as the perfect German, Steve Buscemi as the suicidal entertainer, Hope Davis as the morose daughter of Dana Ivey who plays a now near-impoverished widow, and Billy Connolly as an award-winning athlete who glories in the, shall we say, perfect attributes of the male species--you can see that everybody was having a blast doing the movie. They all relish what they're doing and it shows.

This is not a meaty work, but in its froth it's so tempting and side-splitting, it's definitely worth seeing--if not owning. In addition to which, there is a cameo by a surprise, uncredited personality (quite well known) who adds his problems to the frustrations of Maurice and Arthur, the two unemployed thespians.

Great job, Stanley!

This is a great, goodhearted comedy, with brilliant comedic work by just about the whole cast--though Oliver Platt and Steve Buscemi stand out for me. (See Platt in the bakery scene and Buscemi onstage.)

The setup: Stanley Tucci and Oliver Platt are two hapless, out-of-work actors who find themselves on the lam on a cruise ship, where numerous intrigues and misunderstandings are under way. These secondary stories eventually get entangled and lead to a madcap ending. The first half is stronger than the second, but there are classic moments throughout.

I hope this ensemble continues to work together, especially the comedy-writing duo of Tucci/Scott, who are both so adept at playing out absurd moments of miscommunication. If they do, it could really rejuvenate the spirit of comedy.

The opening scenes for The Imposters are some of the most sublime I've seen in recent years. They play like a silent comedy, with melodramatic classical music on the soundtrack. The opening credits alone make this film worth owning. And although The Imposters never truly lives up to those scenes it remains constantly funny and unique(in these days of ironic self referential teen comedies).

I would have prefered it if our two main heroes had never gotten on a ship, its too limiting for the scope that had been suggested by the early New York scenes. But that should not be enough to deter you from this film. Where else would you meet a drunken Hamlet(Alfred Molina), a gay Scottish wrestler (Billy Connely), a suicudal singer named Happy Franks(the always ace Steve Buscemi) among a host of other bizarre creatures. This is like those overrated comedies of the 1940s except its funny and beautiful to look at. Which brings me to the art direction of this movie, which looks a lot like the wonderful Bullets Over Broadway. Infact The Imposters is a lot like that film but with the comedy played much broader.

I previously watched Stanley Tucci's fantastic gastronomical delight Big Night(5 STARS), while this film is not quite that good, I am now officialy a fan of his and await his next offering Joe Gould's Secret when it comes out here. Admittedly this film is not for all tastes, but here's is way you can find out if its you kind of movie. There is a cameo in this film by the king of the neourotic New York comedy, if you can't guess who that is then this film is not for you.

Since the other reviews seem to examine the plots and the magic between Tucci and Platt, I can only say that I agree!

It is a genuine delight to watch. Uplifting and fun. Sometimes one does not want a deep plot or a sensitive drama, but something that will brighten the day! This does just that.

I dunno what Keith Simanton was on about, but this is a real movie; not quite as dazzling as its predecessor Big Night, but wonderful nontheless. Stanley Tucci and Ollie Platt are on the money as perenially out-of-work actors who stowe away on an ocean liner located in a dreamy amalgam of the 20s,30s and 40s. Cambell Scott is hilarious as the fascist Concierge; the rest of the cast is good, except that Isabella Rosellini somehow doesn't come across as the mysterious member of some European aristocracy (not her fault -- I think her old friends just love her so much that they wrote in a little role for her that doesn't have much to it). Satirical, silly,laugh-out-loud homage to the Marx brothers and their ilk (definitely not Crosby and Hope). Comedy is the hardest form, and this is the real thing.

"The Imposters" is a genuine treat. I haven't seen a movie made like this or made this funny in a long time. It is hilarious! People in the mood for a madcap farce with plenty of mishaps is sure to enjoy this one. The supporting characters are all so wonderful as different stereotypes, but the real treat is watching Stanley Tucci and Oliver Platt, who have perfect deadpan expressions. You can't go wrong with this one!