Customer Reviews

National Lampoon's Favorite Deadly Sins [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is only one reason to buy this film--the second vignette, "Anger." It is the funniest twenty minutes of film I have ever seen. Andrew "Dice" Clay is at his ranting raunchy best, getting off some of the best one-liners I've heard in ages. I've shown this to people who despise Dice, and they've howled. The rest of the film droops in comparison, despite excellent casting. The powers that be should have saved me some wear and tear on my VCR and put "Anger" first, because it's the only segment worth watching, believe me.

I'm the first person to review this! Am I the only one who saw it before? Favorite Deadly Sins is one of the funniest Lampoon movies, and definetely one of the best Lampoon made-for-cable movies. Divided into 3 segments Greed, Anger, and Lust, it features a HUGE celebrity cast: Joe Mantegna, Andrew "Dice" Clay, Denis Leary, Robert Culp, Brian Keith (Uncle Bill!), Ed Marinaro, Pia Zadora, William Ragsdale (Manniquien 2), Charlene Tilton, and one of my favorite actors, Gerrit Graham. Greed is the longest, starring Joe Mantegna as a TV producer who gets a waitress to kill her abusing family so he can turn it into a TV movie and ending with a great musical number. Anger stars Andrew "Dice" Clay as a man who has to go buy tampons for his wife, and ends up being killed. Lust stars Denis Leary as a security guard who falls in love with the babe who's in the window across from him. Very funny; I recommend it.

After being blown away by another obscure National Lampoon flick, (The Don's Analyst) which was "Analyze This", only better -- I thought I should check this one out too. What's going on here? Another surprisingly sophisticated, laugh out loud film with an incredible cast. Denis Leary's "Lust" was a stylish little sexy ditty in the vein of "Rear Window." In "Anger," Andrew "Dice" Clay (who I normally despise) actually made me laugh out loud. But it was Joe Mantegna in "Greed" that really shocked me. This piece was nothing short of brilliant. An hour in length, it really is the centerpice of the whole film, and what makes it a keeper. I found it a cross between "To Die For" and "The Producers". This is sharp satire the way it used to be in the magazine's hey day. Intelligent, sexy, cutting edge stuff that pulls no punches. This one really has stayed with me. I've watched it several times now and it holds up great. The surprise "celebrity" cameos are a real hoot but they also lend an invaluable authenticity to the story. How come this wasn't in the theaters?

The only reason I own this movie is for the 12 minutes of pure laughter that is portrayed in the second story of this film. Like Twilight Zone and Creepshow, This film is dissected into multiple stories (3). The first one is kind of stupid. The second story is about anger and I have to say this is possibly the funniest Andrew "Dice" Clay I have ever seen. It was worth the money just to watch him in action even if it was really short. The last story has Dennis Leary and involves "lust", it is descent but not as good as Dice.

Although the film was dated and taking that into consideration, it was still a tough stretch getting in into the "average" category. There were a few laughs, and some nice cameros roles by well-known celebrity types, but overall the film was an embarassment to the National Lampoon bosses, based on their previous successes. Not recommended - dull. Watch it when only royal marriages and world series are on the tube.

As my title indicates, this movie doesn't leave a large impression either way. It wasn't a complete flop but didn't make it to the must have category either. The movie did contain a few mildly amusing comical situations. However, nothing that will have anyone with an IQ higher than a squid rolling on the floor laughing. If you have nearly completed your dark comedy section and are looking to add one more then by all means consider purchasing this. However, there are several other more impressive movies available.