DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS
A film review by Jeff Meyer
Copyright 1989 Jeff Meyer
One of my New Years resolutions was driven home to me over the Christmas Holidays: no more TV Movie Review Programs in 1989. Actually, I hadn't watched any of them for months, but upon visiting my parent's house for Christmas, I was reminded why I have shied away from these shows in the first place.
For one thing, they show some of the best clips from the movie in the previews (this was true for DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, at any rate); secondly, they don't seem to lose much sleep over whether they've given away the plot to their viewers (Roger Ebert is particularly bad about that); and finally, the new crop of reviewers are really awful. I never thought I'd say it, but the woman who appears across from Rex Reed on "At The Movies" actually made me feel sorry for the old geek. He certainly seems more reasonable when compared to his Entertainment Tonight Reject co-anchor.
However, don't get me wrong; DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS is not a one-high-point film. It carries it's load fairly evenly throughout the whole film, wearing at the edges only when Steve Martin becomes a little too Jerk-ish (am I the only one who sees him these days and is immediately struck that someone has bobbed his nose?). The script is good, though not great; I didn't see the film with Niven and Brando that this is based on, but it seems that someone updated it with competence, if not inspiration.
Basically, it's an enjoyable comedy, but not something you're going to remember for more than a few hours afterwards. A great discount film. $3.00 value.
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
INTERNET: moriarty@tc.fluke.COM
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