Customer Reviews

Sunshine Boys [VHS]

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

 

 

Don't watch this one if you haven't seen the original, because, though funny, Woody Allen and Peter Falk are no match for George Burns and Walther Matthau. Not that they didn't try, but they were both absurdly miscast since neither of them has done in real life the sort of comedy their characters do. And it shows: their supossedly hilarious TV sketch looks so forced, the child actor in it has to fake his laughs. They all do, actually. The entire thing feels forced and embarrassed.

Besides, Falk is shown much too old and meaner than the part requires and Allen looks like a fish out of water in every routine; he's a great comedian but no vaudeville sidekick, and one just can't buy these guys were ever partners, let alone successful ones.

Still, I hope they had much more fun doing this half-baked TV remake than I had watching it. Best of luck next time, both of them, for I'm really their fan!

First off, I am a great fan of Woody Allen. I toured nationally plaing his role in Play It Again, Sam --but he is totally miscast in this version of The Sunshine Boys. There is no sparkle between him and Peter Falk. It is lifeless and disappointing. It should never have been done. As other comments attest, the movie version with Matthau and Burns is vastly superior. Sometimes ---great talents just don't work well together. That's the case here. Surely they knew it was not working when they shot it. No chemistry between them --a sad on-screen encounter with no payoff whatsoever. You'll waste your time watching it!

Alan Arkin directed the original Broadway production of Neil Simon's THE SUNSHINE BOYS. It had 538 performances between 12/20/72 and 4/21/74. Opening night cast included Jack Albertson as Willie, Sam Levene as Al and Lee Meredith as their buxom sketch nurse. Lewis J. Stadlen was Willie's nephew, Ben Silverman (his original last name). Stadlen, a dead-ringer for Groucho Marx, portrayed him in the off-Broadway musical, MINNIE'S BOYS (1970).

The DVD pictured here is a TV movie misfire of the Neil Simon play that updates the start of Lewis & Clark's stage act to the 1960s, which makes little sense as vaudeville was long dead by then. Falk and Allen can't come near George Burns' or Walter Matthau's charisma in the original film. Also, changing Willie's nephew to a niece smacks of political correctness.

Simon's play is based on real life vaudevillians Joe Smith and Charlie Dale. The skit they fail to perform on a nostalgia TV special is directly lifted from Smith & Dale's "Dr. Kronkheit and his Only Living Patient."

As a fan of both Woody Allen and Peter Falk I had hoped this rehash would offer some laughs. Alas, in the end there was only hash. The weakest moment of all was Falk pretending to be convalescent and making Allen walk ALLLLL the way across the room to see him. Matthau did this bit brilliantly; Peter 'Falked' it all up. If you've seen the 1975 movie, don't bother with this one!

Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

(5.8) The Sunshine Boys (TV-1995) - Woody Allen/Peter Falk/Sarah Jessica Parker/Michael McKean/Edie Falco/Liev Schreiber

I cannot believe how awful this film was. Woody and Peter are such classics, and one would think that a film starring them that is based on a Neil Simon play would be great. But it isn't. It was painful. This film is not funny, it is so terrible that by the end of it I wished I had never known it existed.

The original with Walter Matthau and George Burns is so much better, it's not even funny. I like Allen and Falk, but this is an embarassment to them.

A competent remake of the 1975 version of Neil Simon's play about the love/hate relationship between two ex-vaudeville stars. The two leads are a delight to watch although not quite up to the standard of Walter Matthau and George Burns. Sarah Jessica Parker is fine in the role of the pushy niece who tries to get the stars together one more time but the real star of the film is the script. It's up there with other strong Neil Simon work such as "California Suite". In an age too familiar with relentlessly banal "comedy" scripts here is one with consistent bittersweet humour and warmth. A slim story that has been made to work beautifully. Recommended.

Neil Simon is capable of some decent stuff--and then there's this dreck. Woody Allen and Peter Falk are two ageing members of a comedy duo, re-united by Falk's niece, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, who works as an agent. Others have commented on the "lack of chemistry" between Allen and Falk. I'm not sure how much of that is the actors' part; I think mostly this is a problem with the script and the directing. Falk's character is played as such a nasty old coot that nobody would want to be around him--and seems to be getting demented as well. Sarah Jessica Parker's excitement at getting the two together is hard to understand given that she's had to put up with her uncle for 10 years--the only reason she possibly could be doing it is for the money. Something rarely mentioned is Whoopie Goldberg has a cameo in this film, as a nurse, and she's a short breath of fresh air. Woody Allen's acting is typical Woody Allen. I like his acting, so his parts were sometimes mildly amusing. Overall this movie was like some peoples' lives: full of frustration alternating with boredom, and at the end, relief that it's finally over. Falk definitely got the worst end of this deal, with a character nobody can like.

To Woody Allen/Peter Falk/Neil Simon fans, this is must viewing. I think they both had a good time making this, and I sure enjoyed the viewing. Even if you don't like the film as much as other Woody films, the music, as always, is a pleasure. I would love an album of "Songs Woody Allen Movies are Made of." This film manages to get the story of two old ex-partners who reunite briefly to be touching, yet not sticky. Sarah Jessica Parker is excellent as the incredibly patient neice of Peter Falk, and Whoopi Goldberg really steals a scene here as Falk's nurse!