Ahh. What a wonderful movie to start with. April 19th is the legendary Tim Curry's birthday, so I decided to dedicate an entire month to him and his epic career. There are so many roles that he's played that it's become a way to judge someone as to which movie they remember him best from. His career has spanned decades and he's done everything you can think of. He's been a musician with albums released in the 70s and 80s. He's been an actor on stage and on screen, both big and small. He's even narrated many books, which are just as satisfying as you would think they would be. Trust me, I've listened to a few. He's one of the narrators in the Dracula story by Bram Stoker and I loved the performance. This particular film has earned itself a 68% on the Rotten Tomatoes ratings, but a whopping 86% in the audience score. Goes to show just how loved this film is and how clue-less critics can be.
This Tim Curry film was made in 1985 and he plays Wadsworth, the butler, and hosts a number of guests to a dinner party. In a perfect imagining of the board game brought to life, this movie takes you on a who-dun-it ride to solve the mystery of the deaths of some of the guests. There's something special about Tim Curry's smile and his general demeanor that just draws you in and makes you feel happy. The critics weren't as happy with this film as I am, but they tend to look for different criteria as opposed to just having a good time with a film. It's cheesy farcical nature is exactly why I come back to it over and over again, feeling like I could never watch it enough. In the past 25 years, I've watched bits of it and watched it all the way through so many times that I can't even begin to try to count how many times it is now. There are so many moments that stick with me and so many quotes that I find myself repeating randomly in my life. There's a bit of slapstick, a bit of dry humor and a lot of hilarity. I can't wait to watch this again and share some of my favorite moments.
When a long span of time passes and I haven't seen it, I forget just how much I truly enjoy this film. It starts off slow and only mildly humorous, but builds to a level where I am left laughing out loud. In all the times that I've seen this movie, I apparently never paid attention to the year that this movie takes place. I could tell by the style of the clothing, the cars and the style of dinner party that it was meant to be reminiscent of an era long past. I just never noticed that it was set in 1954, so it's a very specific time. No wonder they kept making comments about J. Edgar Hoover, communism and socialism. Those things were something that would have molded every day society, so it was quite fitting for it to be mentioned in the film. The whole movie follows the general plot of a "who-dun-it" where a group of strangers are invited to a dinner party, told to use an alias to conceal their personal identities and none have a clue why they're there. They find out that they've all been invited because they're all being blackmailed by the same person, who is later revealed to also be at the party. The plan is to call the police and have him arrested for extortion, but it all goes wrong when everyone is given a weapon and the lights are turned out. The first body just leads to more chaos and more bodies showing up throughout the course of the night and everyone is trying to figure out who the murderer is and how they did it. It was a brilliant way to bring the classic board game to life.
I love each of the actors and their performances in this film. Each one was quite perfect for the roles they portrayed and they all fit together so wonderfully. Tim Curry is the perfect balance between refined elegance and comedy in this film. I really just love hearing him talk. Even him just saying "No," is something you want to repeat because it's so wonderfully exaggerated and so absolutely Tim Curry. "The double negative has lead to proof positive..." He starts off in the film very calm and refined and as the movie progresses he gets more ridiculous and hilarious.
Madeline Kahn as Mrs. White is another gem in this film. She plays someone so calm and collected, but it's comedic genius with her delivery. She knows how to balance the refined air of a wealthy woman along with the comedic spin that she needs for her character in this type of film. "Flames! Flames on the side of my face." Brilliant.
Christopher Lloyd as Professor Plum and Michael McKean as Mr. Green were equally as fun. Lloyd is great with the awkward natured, sex crazed professor and McKean is the consummate nervous state worker. McKean is great with the physical comedy this role needed to show a bumbling, anxiety addled, straight-laced businessman. He's constantly getting thrown around, tripped up and pushed down and it stays light hearted because he's so brilliant in the role. Christopher Lloyd's character is very much his typical type of personality. Although, it also might not be so much of a typical personality as just the fact that he looks and sounds so iconic that it's hard to see a truly different person in his roles and you just see him in everything he does.
The other actors are ones I don't know as much about. Colonel Mustard, Mrs. Peacock and Miss Scarlett are actors that I don't know from many other films, though their faces are familiar. They did great with their roles, though. Mrs. Peacock is a personal favorite of mine. It's not that I like her character the most, but she is the most fun to watch. Her constant chatter to fill a quiet room is hilarious ("I am determined to enjoy myself!") and how easily she gets hysterical and flustered brings moments of brightness in a sometimes sedate film.
It's hard to judge the actor who plays the cook because she's rarely on screen, has only one or two lines and she's just a dead body for the rest. Mr. Boddy is a calm, collected man whom you can tell is a bit dangerous. He also dies early and you only see him as a dead body for the rest of the film. Yvette has always been a fun one to imitate because she has the stereotypical French accent. I say stereotypical because it's generally the one Americans imitate when they try to do a French accent. In reality, there's so many nuances to the varying regions of France that the average American wouldn't know where to start in determining the differences of accent. But, she's a fun character and breaks up the seriousness with simple, yet classic humor. Then there is the singing telegram girl. I only just found out that she was portrayed by Jane Wiedlin from the GoGo's. So, no matter how many times I've seen this movie, I'm still learning new things about it. Each one of them bring something to the film that ties all of these wonderful moments together.
What I really love about this movie is the one liners and humor laced throughout the film. I love the way it starts as a quiet and reserved film, but slowly builds the humor as you go along. It's a journey worth taking and you're not left disappointed. Every time I watch it, I pick up new little details, and knowing the varying endings, I try to look and see the scenes where you can find the evidence they use to determine the "who-dun-it" mystery. It's also interesting to notice the little details of who recognizes who as they meet each other. They even become numb to the murders as the movie progresses. They look at the latest body, they look resigned that it happened again and they just turn around to walk away and leave the body where it fell. I still don't understand how the critics could dislike this movie even just a little bit, but it really grew in popularity once the DVD came out. Apparently, the three different endings weren't shown in the same viewing when in theaters. Each theater was sent just one of the three endings and people were left arguing over who the actual killer was. I think it's a hilarious move on the production company's part, but that might just be me. I do also prefer seeing all three endings in a row because it makes it more fun and enjoyable. That was the beauty of buying the tape for home, you got to see all of them and determine which one you like best.
If you've never seen this movie before, then you are truly missing out and you need to find it and watch it. Trust me! You will definitely enjoy this film. I haven't met a person yet who has watched this and said any sort of thing relating to them disliking this in any way. It is currently available on Showtime, but you can rent it from multiple other streaming services. It's truly a classic. Go watch it and stay tuned for another fabulous Tim Curry film!
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