Funny Farm (1988)

Director: George Roy Hill

Cast: Chevy Chase, Madolyn Smith, Joseph Maher, Jack Gilpin

Have I Seen It Before: Yes, and to a weird degree. When I was a kid and fancied myself a novelist (not to be confused with the various times in my 20s and 30s that I’ve done the same thing) I actually managed to finagle an interview with Jay Cronley, author of the novel. By then he had become a weekly columnist for the local paper. He was nice and enthusiastic, far nicer and more enthusiastic about Mac Boyle: Novelist than he had any obligation to be to a 15-year-old kid who took some time out of his day. Even so, there was a bit of world-weariness to him that made me always fairly certain that the story was a self-insert. Andy Farmer is Cronley. Cronley is Andy Farmer.

Did I Like It: As I watch it now, the thing I’m most struck by is less the fundamental Cronley-ness of Chase as Farmer but that this might be the perfect vehicle for Chase at his prime. You might prefer him as Clark Griswold in the Vacation films, but me and mine will always prefer him in Fletch (1985)*, Andy Farmer seems to be the perfect blend of those two disparate poles of Chase’s on-screen persona**. Oddly enough, when he’s his most manic, he’s tapping into his Griswold side, and when he’s more wry and detached from the absurdity transpiring around him, he’s more Fletch.

It may, indeed, be the ultimate 80s Chevy Chase movie.

*Even if Jon Hamm played him more like Gregory MacDonald wrote him, but that’s a matter for other reviews. Also I think that Bill Murray would have been better casting for the role back int the 80s… I know, I know. Different review.

**The third pole of Chase is his off screen persona, which tends to be what he plays more now. On yet another unrelated note, when are we getting that Community movie?

The Sting (1973)

Director: George Roy Hill

Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning

Have I Seen It Before?: I have the vaguest of memories of trying to watch it once on cable, but edited to within an inch of it’s life, the movie dragged on for far longer than its just-over two run time. Definitely felt like I was missing something at the time. It completely mystifies me as to why that was a mystery back then.

Did I like it?: Yeah, I think so.

I kept hesitating to watch this movie because it’s been lionized for its byzantine plot. By the time my DVD returned to its menu, I was struck with the need to ask “Is that it?”

I expected the need to pay attention to every second of the film to even be able to follow it. Instead, I think I may have become the quintessential bad audience member at a magic show. I’m not blinking, and thus I see the slight of hand as it plays out.

So, I suppose it’s on me that this film just didn’t work for me. And that’s the unfortunate thing that can happen when people don’t watch the classics as quickly as they possibly can. They end up seeing all of the stuff that was inspired by the ur-example. The magic of the original is diminished, or in some cases, completely gone.

So, I come here not to damn The Sting, but to damn us for not getting on the ball and watching the greats. Learn from my mistake. Make better choices. If you’ve got a choice between watching Ocean’s Eleven (2001) and this, watch this first. If you have a choice between watching Joker (2019) and Taxi Driver (1976). If you have the choice between watching Notorious (1946) and Mission: Impossible II (2000), for the love of God and everything that is Holy, watch Notorious.

Let’s make better choices all around, people.