THE IMPOSTORS
Review by Victory A. Marasigan http:www.gl.umbc.edu/~vmaras1/reviewsidx.html
I have to admit that I admire what writer-director Stanley Tucci was trying to do with his latest film _The Impostors_. Obviously an homage to the screwball "program picture" comedies of the 30s and 40s, the movie exudes a _joie de vivre_ which is hard to dislike. It's too bad that Tucci's screenplay degenerates into the formulaic drivel and standardness which derailed many films of that very same era.
Oliver Platt and Stanley Tucci play Maurice and Arthur, a pair of starving actors in 1930s New York. They are desperate for work, but they aren't idle. Among their pastimes is putting on loud, brash arguments in public, with the inevitable conclusion of one of them falling to the ground with exaggerated death throes. Though they'd rather have jobs, Maurice and Arthur find that such real world practice works more directly to their benefit, particularly in scamming vendors out of their food. When they're not begging, they're auditioning (the line between the two has become blurred for the desperate pair). What is such a shame is that the film fails to milk their comedy-rich plight in the city and opts instead to plop Maurice and Arthur haphazardly into a completely different locale.
Through an ill-fated encounter with a Shakespearean actor named Jeremy Burtom (Alfred Molina, who makes one of the worst Hamlets ever captured on film), the pair end up as stowaways on a cruise ship. In classic ensemble fashion, the film introduces the various players whom Maurice and Arthur will encounter on their maritime adventure. There's the rich sheik (Teagle F. Bougere). There's the stuffy aristocrat (Dana Ivey). There's the depressed lounge singer (Steve Buscemi, who actually sings!). There's the deposed Queen (Isabella Rossellini)... it's that kind of yarn. The only caricatures missing are Frankenstein and Dracula (catch that, Abbott and Costello fans?). From here it's strictly hide-and-seek mayhem, as our bumbling pair of heroes hop from cabin to cabin trying to avoid the peeved Mr. Burtom who, it turns out, is also on board.
The cruise ship plot is a yawner, but some appropriately hammy performances do get to light up the screen. Campbell Scott gets some of the film's best lines from his role as the head steward, a scar-faced German with an unrequited lust. Lili Taylor and Matt McGrath are irresistably sweet as lovers who must overcome the crazy circumstances which keep them apart. And Tony Shalhoub must be awarded the brass ring for having the, um, _cojones_ to do a wild phone sex scene.
The film's catchy jazz score and art deco production design make _The Imposters_ easy on the ears and eyes. I confess that had the film been shot in black-and-white, I may have given it a half-star higher. It's details like that which can make all the difference in a film like this.
Although _The Impostors_ is in toto only good for a few chuckles, there is a certain joy to be had in watching an ensemble cast having a fun time just being silly. Here's hoping that next time, director Tucci makes a film that's as fun for the audience as well.
GRADE: B-
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