Jerry Lewis
I think I said something once a long while ago about wishing I could see some Jerry Lewis movies; I hadn't seen any for maybe 25 to 30 years. There were a couple Jerry Lewis movies available on demand, so I watched 'em. Two I'd seen when I was a kid: "The Geisha Boy" and "The Nutty Professor". Two others are frequently cited as works of genius: "The Bellboy" and "The Errand Boy". I also saw "The Ladies Man", which I'd never heard of. I also watched that documentary about Lewis that just came out.
Jerry Lewis is an overhyped unsung genius. That is, most people seem to treat him as a joke or rarely talk about him at all, while the few who do talk about his movies make too big a deal about how great he is. I like some of what he does. I think individual bits he does can be extremely funny, because (and I just realized this in the last few weeks) he's a perfect mimic. Not just a mimic of voices or facial expressions or body posture, but of seemingly *everything*, which is a pretty rare talent, indeed.
But those Lewis movies I watched all share this in common: they're really just individual funny bits strung together. Several of the bits in "The Geisha Boy" and "The Nutty Professor" don't really go anywhere in terms of overall plot, and the overall plot of either movie isn't all that great, anyways. Some places in between funny bits drag a little, and that's even more true of "The Bellboy" and "The Errand Boy", which I didn't think were all that worthy as "great works of cinema"; they were quick pics filmed to fill studio schedules, and they only work because you can watch Jerry Lewis clown around in a bunch of unrelated bits and it will still make you chuckle, even laugh out loud in a couple places. I think when I get a chance to watch other Lewis movies I saw as a kid ("At War With The Army", "That's My Boy", "Living It Up", "The Delicate Delinquent", "Cinderfella", "The Family Jewels", "Boeing Boeing", "Three On A Couch") I'll notice that they're much the same.
Summary: Jerry Lewis is funny, Jerry Lewis movies are enjoyable; but these movies, at least, aren't great movies. They're "light-hearted romps".
Jerry Lewis is an overhyped unsung genius. That is, most people seem to treat him as a joke or rarely talk about him at all, while the few who do talk about his movies make too big a deal about how great he is. I like some of what he does. I think individual bits he does can be extremely funny, because (and I just realized this in the last few weeks) he's a perfect mimic. Not just a mimic of voices or facial expressions or body posture, but of seemingly *everything*, which is a pretty rare talent, indeed.
But those Lewis movies I watched all share this in common: they're really just individual funny bits strung together. Several of the bits in "The Geisha Boy" and "The Nutty Professor" don't really go anywhere in terms of overall plot, and the overall plot of either movie isn't all that great, anyways. Some places in between funny bits drag a little, and that's even more true of "The Bellboy" and "The Errand Boy", which I didn't think were all that worthy as "great works of cinema"; they were quick pics filmed to fill studio schedules, and they only work because you can watch Jerry Lewis clown around in a bunch of unrelated bits and it will still make you chuckle, even laugh out loud in a couple places. I think when I get a chance to watch other Lewis movies I saw as a kid ("At War With The Army", "That's My Boy", "Living It Up", "The Delicate Delinquent", "Cinderfella", "The Family Jewels", "Boeing Boeing", "Three On A Couch") I'll notice that they're much the same.
Summary: Jerry Lewis is funny, Jerry Lewis movies are enjoyable; but these movies, at least, aren't great movies. They're "light-hearted romps".