PRETTY DARN FUNNY… This is definitely one of the better Chevy Chase vehicles, as it does not go too far off the beaten path and is handled with a lighter touch than many of his other films. It is funny, wry, and deftly humorous.
Just a Pleasure to Watch Let me say that I’m not a big Chevy Chase fan – but I like this movie. The story of a couple, Andy and Elizabeth Farmer, who move from the daily grind of New York to the picturesque country setting of Rosebud, only to find their scenic utopia populated by a pack of small town lunatics.
“Cue the Deer…” I’ve always admired George Roy Hill’s gifts as a director, from BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, to THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, to the underrated and underappreciated THE GREAT WALDO PEPPER. In fact I think Hill was one of the top cinematic craftsmen of 70s and 80s Hollywood. And he serves the story of FUNNY FARM well.You can tell you’re in the hands of a master when not long into the story he delivers a classic, almost Lubitsch-like moment that comes when the two transplanted city folk have to spend the night in their new farm house with no furniture (the movers got lost) and nothing to eat except for a few bananas and an apple. The crunch of that apple, with perfect camera placement, comes at just the right place in the story to let you know that no matter what farfetched plot points may be coming along down the road (and there are some), the humor is going to be more subtle, and of a drier, more “throwaway” style, than what you might expect from a typical Chevy Chase vehicle.And speaking of vehicles, you’ve gotta love longtime character actor Kevin Conway as the enraged local mailman, who drives his loud, rusty, unmufflered truck past Chevy’s new house every day and simply throws whatever letters and junk mail there is at the mailbox. Or the local sheriff who lost his driver’s license and has to be chauffeured to crime scenes by the local cabbie. (I told you things would get farfetched.)Then there’s the character of “yellow dog,” a large, lethargic labrador retriever (wonderfully underplayed by a big yellow lab) that Chevy and his wife (wonderfully underplayed by Madolyn Smith) bring home after their first attempt at dog ownership (with an energetic Irish setter) fails the moment they let him out of the car. (I don’t want to give away the joke or I’d say more.)My favorite line? Once they decide to sell the house, they realize that what’s going to sucker a new owner into buying it from them is exactly what suckered them into buying it in the first place, namely the “local color”. So as an eager young yuppie couple, intent on living closer to nature, motors their SUV up the snowy driveway, Chevy peers at them through the curtains, then clicks on his walkie-talkie and says, “Cue the deer…” Sure enough, just as the unsuspecting yuppies get out of their car–their eyes bright, their breath making clouds in the frosty morning air–a lovely, long-limbed fawn scampers right past them and into the woods.Ahhh. Just like the movie itself, it’s absurd, cynical, and wonderfully sentimental all at the same time. A perfect mix. This is not a great film comedy (like THE BANK DICK or DUCK SOUP) by any stretch, but it’s quite good in its own, quiet way. And if you’re a Chevy Chase fan and wish he’d done more films with an element of quality to them, this is one of Chase’s few cinematic turns as a real actor, not just a buffoon.
![Funny Farm [HD]](http://joys.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/5c0c884052_51Rabv00d4L.jpg "Funny Farm [HD]")
PRETTY DARN FUNNY… This is definitely one of the better Chevy Chase vehicles, as it does not go too far off the beaten path and is handled with a lighter touch than many of his other films. It is funny, wry, and deftly humorous.
Just a Pleasure to Watch Let me say that I’m not a big Chevy Chase fan – but I like this movie. The story of a couple, Andy and Elizabeth Farmer, who move from the daily grind of New York to the picturesque country setting of Rosebud, only to find their scenic utopia populated by a pack of small town lunatics.
“Cue the Deer…” I’ve always admired George Roy Hill’s gifts as a director, from BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, to THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, to the underrated and underappreciated THE GREAT WALDO PEPPER. In fact I think Hill was one of the top cinematic craftsmen of 70s and 80s Hollywood. And he serves the story of FUNNY FARM well.You can tell you’re in the hands of a master when not long into the story he delivers a classic, almost Lubitsch-like moment that comes when the two transplanted city folk have to spend the night in their new farm house with no furniture (the movers got lost) and nothing to eat except for a few bananas and an apple. The crunch of that apple, with perfect camera placement, comes at just the right place in the story to let you know that no matter what farfetched plot points may be coming along down the road (and there are some), the humor is going to be more subtle, and of a drier, more “throwaway” style, than what you might expect from a typical Chevy Chase vehicle.And speaking of vehicles, you’ve gotta love longtime character actor Kevin Conway as the enraged local mailman, who drives his loud, rusty, unmufflered truck past Chevy’s new house every day and simply throws whatever letters and junk mail there is at the mailbox. Or the local sheriff who lost his driver’s license and has to be chauffeured to crime scenes by the local cabbie. (I told you things would get farfetched.)Then there’s the character of “yellow dog,” a large, lethargic labrador retriever (wonderfully underplayed by a big yellow lab) that Chevy and his wife (wonderfully underplayed by Madolyn Smith) bring home after their first attempt at dog ownership (with an energetic Irish setter) fails the moment they let him out of the car. (I don’t want to give away the joke or I’d say more.)My favorite line? Once they decide to sell the house, they realize that what’s going to sucker a new owner into buying it from them is exactly what suckered them into buying it in the first place, namely the “local color”. So as an eager young yuppie couple, intent on living closer to nature, motors their SUV up the snowy driveway, Chevy peers at them through the curtains, then clicks on his walkie-talkie and says, “Cue the deer…” Sure enough, just as the unsuspecting yuppies get out of their car–their eyes bright, their breath making clouds in the frosty morning air–a lovely, long-limbed fawn scampers right past them and into the woods.Ahhh. Just like the movie itself, it’s absurd, cynical, and wonderfully sentimental all at the same time. A perfect mix. This is not a great film comedy (like THE BANK DICK or DUCK SOUP) by any stretch, but it’s quite good in its own, quiet way. And if you’re a Chevy Chase fan and wish he’d done more films with an element of quality to them, this is one of Chase’s few cinematic turns as a real actor, not just a buffoon.