Happy Hour

Every so often i pick up a film that anyone could tell is awful. My reason being is one of pure cinematic experimentation and filmmaking science. How could somebody come up with a really lame, unfunny script, get Jamie Farr and Rich Little to star in it, and think they really have something, enough to convince someone to bankroll the travesty, and release it into theatres. Well, ladies and germs, HAPPY HOUR is a grouping of all these people and they created something so not funny, you have to watch some of it to believe it.

Two scientists have created an additive that when put in beer, makes it taste so good that it becomes addictive. Rival companies steal half the formula and slapstick ensues with Rich Little playing a James Bond secret agent trying to steal one half of the formula and Jamie Farr trying to blow up the other. I know this isn't much of a plot description, but it really doesn't matter. Tawny Kitaen shows why she didn't have much of an acting career(plus she shows more skin on the box art than the actual film), Eddie Deezen appears to remind you that you can do anything with your life if you just try, and Farr and Little are just hack has-beens. The rest of the cast is equally as miserable and surely leave this off their resume (if they still have careers). Like I said though, it's kind of amazing that people think they have a good idea, that someone thought Jamie Farr and Rich Little were marketable enough to greenlight this picture and strike prints to put it in theatrical release. Also for any aspiring filmmaker, you should see this movie, and all movies like it,to know how not to make a movie. Anybody nowadays can make a technically polished film. See how not to do it, you'll probably be better off for it. Start here.

It is disheartening to see how many bad movies have been produced over the years and it is a trend that never runs out because there will always be someone watching them. If only out of curiosity.

An awfully silly little comedy with only half-baked satirical elements, the film is however energetically acted, especially by Jamie Farr and Rich Little, and what those two actors alone can do makes the film worth checking out. The director, John De Bello, is best known for 'Attacking of the Killer Tomatoes', and while this film did not gain the same cult status, it possibly is better. The music soundtrack is great, and some of the satirical aspects do work: the secret ingredient is sort of like Coca Cola's secret ingredient, and the market competition does reflect the consumer orientated society of today - but if only it were not full of silly gags and characters that do the film no good. Richard Gilliland is also not the most convincing choice for his leading part, but Farr and Little do spice up the acting side.

If you can sit through this entire movie you either have no life or no remote. I did, but very regettably so. It is a movie where afterward you think, I wasted an hour and a half of my life, ON THAT!! While the acting was horrible, the attempts at humor were even worse. There were a few humorous parts, but even those are tasteless and might repulse some. To tell you how poor this movie is the high point is... well there is no high point it was all equally pathetic.

Marshall Industries of Denver makes the country's no. 1 beer. In fact, in this movie, beer is VERY popular. Most people seem to be drunk a lot of the time, and even 6-year-olds can drink. But Blake, despite being a Marshall employee, wants nothing to do with the beer outside the workplace. He doesn't want his children drinking either.

One day a mystery man shows up at Marshall looking for work. He is willing to do anything. I'm not exactly sure what he was trying to accomplish. He has one scene with Blake where he claims to be a Mormon. Later he has gotten access to the Marshall brewery by claiming to be Cary Grant. As far as I can tell, this is the one time Rich Little uses the skill for which he is best known. Other than that, his abilities weren't used to their potential. He is an okay actor, though.

As a M*A*S*H fan, I liked Jamie Farr the best. He too had a secret agenda of some kind which involved sneaking into the brewery of Marshall's leading competitor. Along the way, he had numerous mishaps. Farr's performance wasn't quite on the level of Corporal Klinger, but he didn't seem to have that much to work with. The other actors had the goofier lines and Farr seemed to play more straight when he spoke, instead ending up a victim of physical comedy.

I do know that there was some secret ingredient that everyone wanted their hands on. Supposedly, this ingredient would make the other beer number one.

I'm not sure what to think of this movie overall. At times it was a hilarious satire. But bad acting in a conventional movie doesn't look too different from good acting in a spoof. I'll give the people who made the movie the benefit of the doubt and say they made a good, but not great, satire. The situations were so silly that this movie was still entertaining, even if I didn't know exactly what was going on. Adding a lot to the movie: the physical comedy and elaborate plans for getting into ... wherever.

The ending was enjoyable in a goofy way. It was one of those cases where the characters knew they were in a movie.