O.C. & Stiggs (1985)

reviewed by
Shane Burridge

O.C. and Stiggs (1985) 109m

Everybody, including me, who'd read National Lampoon's magazine feature 'Summer of O.C. and Stiggs' rejected this film version when it eventually showed up. Firstly, it's just not that funny - at least not in the way that the original stories were. Secondly, it suffers from monumental miscasting - not of the actors, but of director Robert Altman. I can't understand how Altman ever got involved with this assignment, as his distinctive, observational satire is poles apart from the sophomoric humor that trademarks the Lampoon. We'd already seen the magazine's classic story 'Vacation 58' watered down for the film that would become NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION, so in retrospect shouldn't have maintained high hopes for any further film projects based on their catalogue. Perversely, NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE, which was a huge hit and did manage to capture the magazine's anarchic tone, was written for the screen first and translated into a magazine edition afterwards.

O.C. AND STIGGS would have been a tough sell anyway. As written, the characters are hilarious because they are unconscionably cruel - their sole reason for existing is to pursue an ongoing campaign of persecution against the wealthy Schwab family. It's easier to get away with this sort of thing in print than it is on film, so to make the characters more audience-friendly, the screen versions are given a background history. This is a major mistake, because it's the absence of motive that makes the original stories so funny: it was the mission of O.C. and Stiggs to make the Schwab's life a living hell for no other reason than they were Schwabs. What the film-makers didn't recognize was that in this context the cruelty of the story couldn't be taken seriously (or offensively) because there was no rational framework on which it could hang. At least Altman does manage to capture the surreal tone of the story to some degree. His distinct directorial style finds actors ignoring the absurd subtext of the story and seemingly making up their own film within a controlled visual landscape of studied pans and slow zooms.

In the final reckoning it looks as though Altman is more at ease when he is directing the veteran players in his cast - Ray Walston and Dennis Hopper provide the film with its most amusing moments even though their approach and characters are entirely different. It's amusing at first to see Hopper decked out like he was still a photojournalist in APOCALYPSE NOW, but less amusing when this connection is blatantly spoofed with a helicopter charging along to Wagner in the finale. The ending of the film aims to be farcical, but Altman's pacing is all wrong. It reminds me of the instructions that Alan Alda is given in SWEET LIBERTY, in which he is told that to make a successful film he must show nudity, destruction of property, and defiance of authority. This would seem to suit the mission statement of the Lampoon quite happily, but not Altman - he tries for two out of three, but it looks more like two falls out of three, and he loses both times. Ultimately, O.C. AND STIGGS is either a disappointment or just bewildering, depending on whether or not you've read the source material beforehand. It's easier going the second time around if you're willing to give it another chance, and it is definitely a unique product. On those grounds alone, it can't be dismissed completely out of hand.

sburridge@hotmail.com

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