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PAGE 8 | APRIL 14, 2016
W | PASTERNACK ON THE PAST Once a week, Jesse Pasternack reviews a film made before 1980, hoping to expose readers to classics they might not normally watch.
Wilder shines in old comedy The best comedies are the ones with the best rhythms. They’re the ones that establish the right joketo-plot-advancement ratios and make you feel like you’ve been told a story. “Young Frankenstein” is one of the funniest comedies of all time because it has such a great rhythm. “Young Frankenstein” tells the story of Frederick Frankenstein, the grandson of the infamous scientist. After his great-grandfather dies, Frankenstein inherits the Transylvania castle where his grandfather raised the dead. Frankenstein soon finds old familial habits die hard when he begins to make his own monster. One of the reasons “Young Frankenstein” works is the degree to which the filmmakers pay homage to the old Universal horror films. This movie is shot in black-and-white, just like “Frankenstein” and “The Bride of Frankenstein.” The laboratory equipment in the sequence where Frankenstein brings his creation to life is actually the same laboratory equipment Ken Strickfaden made for the original Frankenstein films. Against this fidelity to the original material Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks, the writers, add many jokes. Some of them are well engineered pieces of slapstick, like when The Monster meets a blind man. Others are smaller and more absurd, like when a couple repeat a conversation in German when they are in Transylvania they had previously had in English when they were in New York. The jokes always feel like they are adding something
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
BOSS. Melissa McCarthy’s comedy is the star of the show in her new movie “The Boss.”
‘THE BOSS’ Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage
B “The Boss” isn’t a film I was excited to see. Though I claim to love Melissa McCarthy, I have to confess that I tend to avoid her in leading rolls because of fear about her past characterizations. Though she’s been
around for more than a decade in shows like “Gilmore Girls” and “Mike and Molly,” McCarthy’s big comedic break was arguably her role in “Bridesmaids.” In the Kristen Wiig comedy, McCarthy played the oddball sister of the groom who’s a little too forward and has a bit of a food fetish. She was hilarious not because she was making the jokes, but because she was the joke. She was the comedic relief that drove by in a car full of puppies while the main character angrily
speeds away from her best friend’s bridal shower. She showed up while Wiig’s character sadly sat on a couch mourning her friendship and quite literally bites her on the ass. That’s not the case in “The Boss.” Here, McCarthy’s comedy runs the show. McCarthy plays Michelle Darnell, a ruthless, foulmouthed Fortune 500 CEO who is arrested after a bitter ex-boyfriend rats her out for insider trading. She is released from prison and
depends on the kindness of her former assistant, Claire, played by Kristen Bell, for a place to stay while getting back on her feet. Michelle finds her new calling through Claire’s daughter, Rachel, who belongs to an off-brand girl scouts group, the Dandelions. She builds a new coalition of pint-sized entrepreneurs, Darnell’s Darlings, and takes the market by storm. The plot is rather predictable. Michelle starts to become attached to Claire and Rachel. There are misunderstandings, dumb decisions made out of selfpreservation, revelations and apologies. Nothing is original, but the story line is kept interesting with gags and colorful language. I can’t say “The Boss” was McCarthy’s best work, but it was certainly great work. She was able to showcase a kind of viciousness that we don’t get from her too often. I liked the mean edge to her character. I liked her
dark nature that led her to threatening troop moms in scout meetings and clotheslining a 13-year-old girl amidst a savage street fight. What I didn’t like were the scenes meant to humanize her character and provide a justification for her actions. I didn’t want her actions to be justified. I don’t care why Michelle clotheslined a teenager. McCarthy played it so well, I just want to see it again and again. I can’t finish this review without giving a shoutout to the fantastic female casting. This film revolves around women and the minor roles played by the likes of Cecily Strong, Kristen Schaal and the legendary Kathy Bates were like a surprise gift at the bottom of the cereal box. “The Boss” is nowhere close to comedy of the year, but it was a great opener to the summer blockbuster season. Lexia Banks @LexiaBanks
SEE COMEDY, PAGE 10
3 Located near the IU campus at Third Street and Jordan Avenue, Mother Bear’s Pizza has been a Bloomington tradition for more than 37 years. Recognized by People Magazine as one of America’s Top Nine Pizzerias and voted Best Pizza at IU by the students and staff for the past 10 years, Mother Bear’s also offers great wings, salads, and sandwiches. Our Munchie Madness special is now only $12.95 for pizza, breadsticks, homemade brownies and your choice of a two-liter bottle for carry-out and delivery orders!
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