Cast: Oliver Platt, Stanley Tucci, Alfred Molina, Lili Taylor, Tony Shalhoub, Teagle F. Bougere,
Elizabeth Bracco, Steve Buscemi, Allison Janney, Richard Jenkins, Isabella Rossellini, Campbell Scott,
Billy Connolly, Dana Ivey, Hope Davis
Director: Stanley Tucci
Producers: Stanley Tucci, Beth Alexander
Screenplay: Stanley Tucci
Cinematography: Ken Kelsch
Music: Gary DeMichele
U.S. Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Next time someone tells you that they don't make movies like they used to, point them in the direction of Stanley Tucci's The Impostors, a tribute to the Hollywood comedies of the '30s, '40s, and '50s. In making this film, a screwball farce, at a time when this sort of humor is more than four decades out of date, Tucci took a big risk. Indeed, the studios were wary of touching The Impostors; only Fox Searchlight had the gumption to put up the money for what has turned out to be one of the year's most enjoyable comedies.
The Impostors is retro in almost every sense of the word. The only thing '90s about the movie are the actors, and the fact that the film stock is in color. The script and style hearken back to the early days of the motion picture industry. Savvy film-goers will recognize more than a little of the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton in the director's sophomore effort (Tucci, along with Campbell Scott, who has an acting role here, co-helmed the art house smash, Big Night). This is the first screwball comedy in years that actually works, and that's mainly because Tucci hasn't tried to update the genre for a "modern" audience. Instead, he has crafted this film exactly as it might have been made 50 years ago. And, for those who want to look even further back into motion picture history, the opening sequence, which is done entirely without sound, is the director's homage to the great silent farces of the '20s.
The Impostors doesn't have much in the way of a plot. It's about the exploits of two Depression-era, unemployed actors, Arthur (Tucci) and Maurice (Oliver Platt), a likable Laurel and Hardy duo who would rather con people out of money and food than work for a living. After getting involved in a scrape with a famous Shakespearean actor, the absolutely awful Jeremy Burtrom (Alfred Molina), they end up as stowaways on a cruise ship bound from New York to Paris. They spend the rest of the film trying to avoid Burtrom, who's also on board, while unearthing a plot to blow up the ship.
Tucci has gathered a wonderful group of actors for this outing. He and Platt, both of whom can do interesting things with their facial expressions, are perfect for this sort of film, and they develop a nice sense of camaraderie. Molina enjoys this chance to go over-the-top (his approach resembles the one he used in the Bill Murray film, The Man Who Knew Too Little), as does Billy Connolly, who plays an aging tennis star with a buttocks fixation. Campbell Scott uses his most outrageous accent as a ramrod-straight German steward who's in love with Lili Taylor. Also on board are Hope Davis, Steve Buscemi, Tony Shalhoub, and Isabella Rossellini.
One of The Impostors' rivals for the "funniest movie of the year" crown is the unexpected blockbuster, There's Something about Mary. The only thing these two films have in common is that they both make audiences laugh. The manner in which they do so is completely different. Mary is crude and rude, relying on jokes that demand a '90s audience. The Impostors uses more innocent humor to accomplish the same thing. Instead of gags about hair gel, franks & beans, and dead dogs, Tucci offers a gallery of zany characters, parodies of hard-boiled dialogue, brilliantly-timed physical comedy, and an inventive bit involving subtitles.
Tucci pursues laughter with relish. An uncredited cameo by Woody Allen is only the tip of the iceberg. In the best tradition of the screwball comedy, there are role reversals and gender benders (look for Oliver Platt in drag). And, as the title implies, almost no one is who they seem to be, and much of the fun results from the various impostors being unmasked. No, there aren't any surprises for the audience, but it's entertaining to observe how the characters react to these revelations.
After sitting through a string of bad-to-awful comedies this summer, many of which were trying to scrape something off the bottom of the ZAZ barrel, The Impostors comes as a welcome relief. This kind of humor may be old, but, after enduring the lame one-liners and sight gags of Mafia! and Wrongfully Accused, it seems fresh. The goal of The Impostors is to tickle the funny bone, and it achieves that aim. Although I recognize that the appreciation of comedy is extremely subjective, it's hard to imagine anyone sitting through this film and not being captured by its infectious energy.
© 1998 James Berardinelli