My review was written in March 1990 after a screening on Manhattan's UES.
Elaine May and Marlo Thomas make a memorable screen odd couple in "In the Spirit". Kooky black comedy is for specialized tastes but stands a chance to find an appreciative audience among those longing for off-the-wall humor.
Pic is an unusual case on the current scene of big-name talent gathering with friends to make a low-budget film freed of mainstream good taste and gloss. The experiment works and plays like a throwback to the looser, madcap '60s.
"Spirit" also harks back to the black comedy spirit of Jules Feiffer's "Little Murders", as directed for the screen in 1971 by Alan Arkin. Again, New York is a nightmare, with May moving back to Gotrham from Beverly Hills with her just-fired hubby Peter Falk. She's thrown together with ditzy mystic Thomas fater hiring her to redecorate an apartment.
Almost as goofy as Thomas is Jeannie Berlin, a prostitute neighbor. Her matter-of-fact foul-mouthed pronouncements cue Falk's hilarious take so astonishment. Fact of family resemblance between Berlin and her real-life molm May (who directed her in "The Heartbreak Kid") gives a strange bookends look to these early scenes.
Berlin, co-scripter with Laurie Jones, writes herself out of the picture after the second reel and "Spirit" spins off in a different direction. Thomas and May flee the city to hole up at Michael Emil's New Age retreat in upstate New YHork, pursued by a murderer. First-time director Sandrfa Seacat emphasizes slapstick but also female bonding as the gals on the lam reach beyond their wacky survivalist tactics to address feminist issues.
The picture works in fits and starts; its weakest element being a stupid framing device of a mystical narrator telling us about the cosmic links between the characters. Midway change of tone may put off some viewers, but others will likely relish the intensity of th eMya and Thomas segment.
Script by Berlin and Jones (latter also popping up as a clumsy maid) perceptively mocks trendy attitudes a la Caitlin Adams/Melanie Mayron's "Sticky Fingers". In-jokes range from the obvious (mystical Shirley MacLaine) to the obscure (Robin Byrd's local cable access tv show).
In her first screen role since 1978 ("California Suite"), Elaine May is very funny, giving a lesson in rat-a-tat-tat delivery. Marlo Thomas proves a perfect foil, leading to a satisfying role reversal at pic's end.
Besides Falk, who's morose enough here to challenge monologist Brother Theodore (Gottlieb) in the realm of dark humor, guest star Melanie Griffith is perfect as a prostitute interviewed by Thomas and May (both funny in disguises as fellow hookers), who strips down to her black undies in homage to her previous Mike Nichols' "Working Girl" role. Emil and Olympia Dukakis are wasted in brief assignments.
Pic is claustrophobic with its emphasis on closeups, but that's not damaging due to its overall paranoia theme.
