The Smell of Success

A low key comedy that kept me amused and entertained. Tea Leoni proves to be a great comedic actress, and I LOLed at several of her pratfalls. Paired with the subtle sly humor of Billy Bob Thornton, there is a lot of nuance to mine from a movie plot about competing manure salesmen.

Low cost production values added to the comic strip sense of humor. Scenery seemed painted, e.g., clouds in the sky didn't move with the breeze. But the story had all the necessary elements, including bad guys in the form of a competitor fertilizer company which seems overpoweringly endowed. There were subtle double entendres that showed the tongue in cheek intent of the film.

This is an amusing and fairly intelligent comedy pretending to be dumber than it is. Some viewers don't get the deeper level of very well executed comic strip comedy.

I read the preceding review before I saw the film and I was compelled to return to IMDb, register and drop a few lines of my own. With all due respect to the Sundance attendee, I laughed at the portion of the review that described how the Q&A session fizzled after a few minutes. The film reminded me of Samuel Beckett's "Happy Days". What more is there to be said? Téa Leoni is simply heroic in her pratfalls and Thornton wears the brown suit like a snake. Strangely enough, Ed Helms doesn't fit in the cast since his elephant through a pinhole style is too familiar. I'm sorry I had to stumble upon this piece. What can "brown do for you" when it's competing with self-centred angst, car crashes and CGI monsters for the attention of simpletons.

This terrific ensemble cast really delivered the laughs with charm! My rating is based on pure enjoyment & that was certainly provided by BILLY BOB THORNTON & TEA LEONII. The dialog was as critical to this film as the well executed dynamics of the supporting actors. It was certainly silly & that's what made it so much fun to watch! Surprises included free of charge!

or a game. adventure. dark comedy. parody of few genres. or, simple, entertainment. it seems be strange to define this crazy story who could remind many similar others but who has the virtue to be a charming and not comfortable ironic view about the different aspects of business world. it has influences from the French comedy and crumbs from teenager games. it is occasion for each actor to give memorable characters and to remind the crazy pleasure of to be out of ordinary expectation. result, a nice, chaotic story. good actors in not the most convincing roles-Tea Leoni is the name who remains long time after the final credits in memory for the inspired manner to solve the challenge of her character - . and a good job.

The 'Smell of Success' seems quite an an odd title for the film but a couple of minutes into the movie, I realized that the makers were being quite literal. Anyway, it's nice to see that there's a film about the fertilizing industry in the 50s and one that doesn't rely on toilet humour. First of all, most of the jokes were quite funny. I laughed at a number of them even though a few of them were overdone (for example the breast augmentation jokes, the jumping from the plane etc).

The visuals are beautiful. Despite being sepia tinted and almost devoid of colour, they look quite artistic. Most of the frames look like beautiful paintings. The 50s look is also very well captured thanks to the fine art direction costume and makeup.

Billy Bob Thornton does a decent job as the head fertilizer salesman who suddenly feels threatened by sensational Rose and undermines her in his attempts. Tèa Leoni is amazing, proving her comedic fort once again. Frances Conroy is a delight. Mark Polish, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Ed Helm provide good support. Kyle Machlachlan too isn't bad as the smug antagonist.

I only felt that the story lacked consistency. It would occasionally delve into subplots that are never developed. As stated earlier, some of the jokes were overdone and felt repetitive. Given the concept, it could have been a funnier flick but for some reason the Polish Brothers restrain.

Yet, it's a decent watch. A film that certainly has charms with some classy creative toilet humour.