D.Moore

The chase with a crowd of fanatical, ingratiating brides (crowned with a stone avalanche) is monumental and in every way equal to the one in Cops, where Buster Keaton rides with the gendarmes on his heels. It even surpasses the aforementioned scene as far as ridiculousness is concerned, for when else do you see brides being carried away by a tram or a rail crane with the poor main character hanging on its hook?

When good actors have nothing to act with, it's always sad. Especially when they have nothing to act with in a comedy. Among Us Thieves is a toothless satire that can only really entice with its cast. And it actually has successful opening credits. The only one who really made me laugh, however, was Jiří Sovák, when he commented on successful farmers celebrating a newspaper article by saying: "Oh yeah, you're all there. Even the pig."

This film is my second favorite of the entire Pink Panther series - and it's so different from the subsequent films, in which Inspector Clouseau is going all out. Peter Sellers has undoubtedly created a legendary character, but at the same time it would be unfair to neglect the interplay between David Niven and Claudia Cardinale (the evening flirtation scene is very beautiful) or the lovely Capucine as Clouseau's wife (and therefore probably the most patient woman in the known universe), or forget the spectacular masked finale, culminating in an animal car chase that will make even mummified viewers laugh.

A very enjoyable, typically theatrical comedy about a man whose one not-so-beautiful day starts to spoil everything that can be spoiled. Michel Galabru's acting is excellent, the plot is nice and brisk, thanks to the sympathetic runtime, and everything takes place in the 1920s, so the film has a nice "retro" atmosphere supported by a kind of dreamy camera.

It would need more wit and satire that wasn't so explicit and simple, but hats off for the idea and the way the filmmakers played not only with the effects, but especially with the design of all those Nazi flying saucers and space airships.

Honestly, it took a lot of effort to make it through the final hour, so tediously drawn out was the last "revolutionary" act. Yet the film didn't start off badly at all. For the first twenty minutes I was getting used to the singing and learning not to expect the spoken word, but I quite liked the next hour or so (especially Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter were great) and Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe were the perfect choice for acting and singing. But the ending(s)... I don't know the original musical, so I had no idea how long any song would be, and so with Javert's finale came the real hell (in my mind I was thinking: "Now! Come on! Now!" and it didn't, the next verse came) and the very end made the hell even hotter. Two and a half.

Quite crap. I don't understand how such good actors could come together in something so terrible. And although there are a few hints of humour (certainly not thanks to the script, but to the actors), I don't have the slightest reason to give it higher than the lowest rating.

"Isn't it time to find another doctor?" - "No, I'll keep this one. He's doing so badly that I feel better when I look at him." Francis Veber wrote and filmed what he wanted to write and film. An enjoyable conversational comedy, a kind of proof that the good old days of (not only) French fun are not yet over. Of course, it's not as much of a whirlwind as the three year older Shut up!, but on the other hand, it wasn't supposed to be, so what the hell? Gad Elmaleh is good as Pignon (whom Veber refers to as an ordinary man, a good guy who, through no fault of his own, gets into difficult situations and then gets out of them without knowing how), but I was even more pleased with the sympathetic Alice Taglioni. Daniel Auteuil also handled the morbidly unfaithful industrialist with flying colors. And lest I forget, there's a perfect reference to The Dinner Game in the script! It was good. "Elena is a wonderful girl. It takes guts to make out with someone like that." - "Yeah, she's putting her all into it." - "Fuck you!"

This is definitely one of the best Keaton films I've seen so far, second only to The General. In terms of the story (a perfect parody) and the inventiveness of the gags (the killer chair, the pool table, the motorcycle ride), the incredible special effects and the charming atmosphere (the entry to the film, the tie seller's leap), everything is top-notch.

Much of the humour is too simple in an American way, but there are some good scenes. I used to like Vacation a lot more, but I can’t say why. Christmas Vacation is still unsurpassed.