45 Minutes from Hollywood

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were comedic geniuses, individually and together, and their partnership was deservedly iconic and one of the best there was. They left behind a large body of work, a vast majority of it being entertaining to classic comedy, at their best they were hilarious and their best efforts were great examples of how to do comedy without being juvenile or distasteful.

It was in fact Laurel and Hardy that were my reason for seeing their second collaboration '45 Minutes from Hollywood' in the first place, and how my knowledge of its existence came to me as part of my Laurel and Hardy "re-watch and review output" quest. '45 Minutes from Hollywood' doesn't really do them, as individuals and as a double act, justice and is not particularly good in its own right judging it as a short film. Not awful and far from unwatchable, not much great at the same time either.

'45 Minutes from Hollywood' has plus points. It doesn't look too bad and boasts a couple of amusing if never hilarious moments that stop it from being completely unfunny.

The whole cast do their best with what they have and do a more than serviceable job.

On the other hand, Laurel and Hardy are not much of a double act, sharing no scenes together, and screen time-wise Hardy has more to so while Laurel is near-wasted in a mere one scene. Not much of their material is funny, which is true of much of the humour in general. It tended to be clumsy and predictable, some of it repetitive. Considering the title, it is hard not to be disappointed when the short doesn't do anywhere near enough with its premise, pretty much neglecting it after a promising start and favouring slapstick to it.

Regarding the story, it is paper thin and too often lacks energy as a result of feeling over-stretched and like it doesn't go very far. One does wish there was more variety for something as slapstick and pratfall-heavy as '45 Minutes from Hollywood', the lack of variety makes it feel repetitive.

To conclude, okay for a one-time watch but underwhelming. 4/10 Bethany Cox