True Lies

I had forgotten how funny this film is. From the very start it begins to laugh at itself and the entire genre, with great audacity. Every single scene is worth watching and I am still giggling about many of them. (Well, ok, the camera angle on the scene with terrorist-as-missile is a teensy bit overdone.)

I delayed renting it again because I remembered the Jamie-Lee-as-prostitute scene was difficult to sit through--her predicament is just so embarrassing. But this time I discovered it is probably my favorite scene. She is just a scream (and surprisingly erotic), while her underplayed klutziness throughout is hysterical, right down to the tango at the end. Especially in contrast to her husband's ridiculously effortless physical skills and unruffled cool. The only time he loses it, and hilariously so, is with Bill Paxton. (And I love that she gets her own back for Arnie's sleazy trick. A woman who packs a punch.)

Even the excellent special effects are pure humor. They are just huge enough to be ridiculous, and yet never seem overblown--and this with a nuclear explosion and a Harrier on an urban rampage. This film is a work of genius. How an action/espionage/romance spoof could deliver such outrageous tongue-in-cheek and yet never feel like corn, slap or déjà vu is a mystery to me.

I give this 8/10 for being relentlessly entertaining, at a very high level. And the acting is top notch all around.