Hochzeit mit Hindernissen

"The funniest movie you never saw!" is what the poster exclaims and they were right. Because true comedy won't be found here. I actually saw this back when it was released in theaters in the early 80's. The movie is a simple, cheap jack tale of invisibility and international intrigue that's loaded with political incorrectness and juvenile gags. There are a handful of shots that are really cool in 3-D. However there some really bad 3-D effects, most due to poor understanding or handling of the equipment and 3-D techniques. And the film is in the top 5 running for world's worst rear screen projection usage in a movie. What it could have been with better cast and more money is an interesting thought. This also has to have the weirdest and dumbest team of killers ever seen in a movie. The 3-D gets a 2 and the movie gets a 3.

Let me confess. I found this video used and bought it because Guttenberg looked so sexy in his underwear on the jacket. But inside was another story. Besides the fact that the movie was basically a parody of "invisible-man" genre special effects (highly visible strings and other such paraphernalia), the script wasted no chance -- in fact it went out of its way -- in insulting all non-WASP races and real-or-imagined homosexuals. Every insult aimed at a person in the script was either homophobic or racist or both. It starts to grate on your nerves, along with the shaky sound, candid- camera style photography and melodramatic story. However, the end is somewhat of a surprise. But by the time you get there, you hardly care less. Too bad, it could been a reasonably good movie.

The 3-D featured in "The Man Who Wasn't There" stands for DUMB, DUMB, DUMB! This inept comedy features lousy 3-D effects that makes the 3-D effects in "Jaws 3", "Amityville 3", and "Friday the 13th Part 3" look better by comparison. Not to mention the movie is asinine to the extreme. This was one of many 1983 movies to feature the pop-off-the-screen effects. Steve Guttenberg and Jeffrey Tambor got trapped in this mess, but at least it didn't kill their careers. Tambor would go on to star on HBO's "The Larry Sanders Show" and Ron Howard's box office smash "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", while Guttenberg followed this flop with "Police Academy" and "Cocoon". What them in those projects instead of them here in "The Man Who Wasn't There". If you do, you'll regret it.

1/2* (out of four)

Movies dealing with invisibility, is totally intriguing. I've seen Disney's "Now You See Him, Now You Don't", H.G.Wells' "The Invisible Man". And I remember the TV movie, "The Invisible Woman". In this movie, Steve Guttenberg plays a government worker who stumbled upon a small silver canister given to him by an invisible man. Before dying, the man gives information about who to meet with the canister. With the Russians and other 3rd world countries vying for the canister, Sam(Guttenberg) is over his head. Supposed to be getting married to his fiancée, Amanda(Morgan Most). In order to get away from the bad guys, he is assisted by her friend, Cindy (Lisa Langlois) who ended up being more understanding than Amanda. When Sam invests the formula, he experienced the state of being unseen. He gets his kicks at an all-girls academy by raising havoc. The funniest thing I've ever seen is when he accidentally spills the soda on the table, and sneak into the girls' shower to get a towel. After being caught by Cindy, they would eventually team up. Sam and Cindy go out and try to find the man who knows about the formula. The good news is that Sam is being helped by people around him. The bad news is that Amanda, Sam's own fiancée is part of the situation that he was clueless about. Even though this movie is not kid friendly, it's highly entertaining. Try to make this an adult film, and it will be disappointing. Because you won't be able to to see the action. Since this is a 3-D comedy, it's highly entertaining in every way. It was not a let down. 3 out of 5 stars.

I will say that this movie did have a really interesting concept for its time, though it could've worked better as a sci-fi comedy or a sci-fi thriller instead of simply a comedy film. This film is basically a poor attempt at spoofing The Invisible Man. Also Steve Guttenberg, who played Sam Cooper in the film, is pretty much the only reason why anyone would even watch this forgettable 80s flick anyway. If there's another reason to see this film besides seeing Steve Guttenburg's body, it's pretty much invisible to the naked eye.