I guess I should start off with the fact that I'm not a massive Abbott and Costello fan. It's not to say that I don't like em or don't know anything about him, it's just that my information on them is so limited that I'm not sure what's the painted in this film is accurate or not.
Which means I have to tackle this film in a really direct manner. I can't look at the past history of these people and say ''hey they got this part right or they got this part wrong.''
Because I couldn't tell you one way or the other.
So how does this movie hold up to somebody just viewing it as a film.
Honestly it's not bad, it first comes off as really lighthearted and fun. Just two guys with a really cheap act trying to make their way in the burlesque house business.
However things start to go downhill as Costello's character is shown to be kind of demanding and a bit of a jerk. He let fame get to his head and he starts to lose his sense of self as he becomes more and more authoritarian with what he wants.
Little things at first such as a bigger trailer for his film set production and then he starts getting rude with the people he works for or even with his own partner on how to do things.
Eventually it becomes so problematic that he ends up losing his partner and goes on with solo acts that don't quite work out. By the time he does get his partner back, he's turned to alcoholism and it's become unable to perform.
And if all of that was bad enough he had to deal with the tragic death of his son and the collapse of his marriage because said death.
It just makes everything so much more miserable.
Seeing these people that started out with good intentions at aspiration becoming ultimately corrupted by the very thing they were trying to avoid in the first place.
Also there's this weird tax evasion problem with the IRS because they didn't pay all their taxes properly, which completely destroys their financial situation and forces them into more low-key business Endeavours.
All culminating with Costello having a bad heart and inevitably dying from his own malnutrition. Then you look at Abbott a guy who was suffering with seizures and could barely keep his own head above water if not for the consistent help of his now steadfast partner who's inevitably going to leave him because of economic problems.
It's such a weird movie to talk about because it switches gears so rapidly.
Originally it was a really happy-go-lucky film about 2 desperate comedians trying to find their place in the world who become ultimately corrupted and destroyed by the very success that was supposed to help them.
It's just something of an emotional roller coaster as you watch the poor people rip themselves apart little by little.
Part of you doesn't even want to be sad because they had all the opportunities in the world and could have done better with their resources but instead flushed it all the way in the name of cheap success and greed.
Overall it's a good film. Though it is kind of depressing, maybe it's just something that affects me more than others but I found it really sad at the end seeing these poor people turn out the way they did.
Buddy Hatchet and Harvey Korman play a surprisingly good Abbott and Costello.
Their performances are convincing and breathtaking at moments. Being able to play a side of these characters you don't usually get to see you within the movies.
The only thing that really bothers me about this movie is it's made-for-tv pacing problem.
In where scenes would end abruptly so they can have a commercial break before introducing a new segment of the film and it kind of makes the flow of the movie a little awkward.
Having these incredibly strong and emotional scene just stopped out of nowhere because they're supposed to advertise milk or some sort of smoothie machine.
It's a weird problem in that it's not really the movies fault. It's just the way the whole thing's structured.
Instead of having this one solid coherent piece of media we instead give this slightly fractured almost incomplete piece of film that's sacrificing it pacing for a commercial. It's not a deal-breaker for me but it could be for some other people.
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