jflood-18-187213

Watching this movie I found myself very interested in the fascinating story of Walt Disney, but... what an awkward production. The script, dialogue, direction, acting, all come off as sophomoric. (When acting is weak sometimes it's the fault of the direction and script, not the actors, so I'm avoiding making judgements.) Attempts at humor are cringeworthy. Hopefully this story will get the quality production it deserves.

Bored one Friday night 30 years ago, I stumbled into this movie as a teenager. It absolutely haunted me. My mind kept going back to it for years. Despite the presence of Bert Lancaster, for some reason, this movie immediately fell into obscurity. Though I have brought it up to many people over these 30 years, I have yet to find a single person who says they have seen it. I've probably found only one or two people who say they've actually even heard of it. And, to my knowledge, I have not persuaded a single person to actually pick it up to see it. I have only succeeded in getting my wife and a close friend to sit with me to watch it after my insistence. (I'm happy to say both found it stirring.) Somehow the description just doesn't captivate people, and I suspect some got through the first 20 minutes and decided it was pointless and gave up. If you do watch it, be patient. Forgive a few of the 60's trendy cinematography experiments. I would rate this as one of the top 5 or 10 movies I've ever seen.

I'm beginning to get it now. If a movie is family-friendly, critics and armchair critics walk in with a prejudice. I'm glad I didn't hear any negative reviews before seeing this because I thought it was a very well-constructed comedy, and quite frankly, I was laughing my head-off. But this wasn't simply a series of gags. While it has it's many knock-you-in-the-face comedic moments, it also employs subtlety. This is the genre of comedy that Steve Martin used in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" and "Cheaper by the Dozen II" where good and upstanding characters gradually descend into immaturity and loss of self-control in their pursuit of a (usually stupid) goal, all the while showing the audience how these ridiculous choices can seem reasonable to the unfortunate but lovable characters. Greg Germann was truly excellent in his lead role as Phil Davis. I usually don't want to see a movie a second time, but this one is different. Had "Down and Derby" added expletives, off-color jokes, and a little nudity to earn it a PG-13 or R rating, I suspect the reviews would be much more favorable. But, alas, it is good clean humor for the whole family. If you don't require expletives and sexual innuendo to laugh, then see this movie.