paulreynolds11

This film comfortably sits in my top 10 movies of all time - pure Steve Martin comedy genius. Filled with dry jokes and witty narrative, hilariously spoofing film noir - but still managing to contain that characteristic Martin craziness. The splicing of scenes including Gregory Peck, Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman is written so well (by Martin and Reiner) that it is sometimes not noticeable, due to a state of distress rolling on the floor in hilarity requires.

The ending is a playful example of the downright silly comedy styles of Martin and Reiner - with Alan Ladd credited as 'Gunman at cheese factory', which pretty much sums up that slight change of tact. The voice-over is, equally a source of humour - parodying noir through slight twists of typical narration. I hope his (Martin's) adaption of hit play Picasso is a throw back to his movies like this - timeless comic masterpieces. Sir Martin, I salute you.

I discovered this movie a couple of years ago and was charmed by its fragile characters and beautiful soundtrack that seems to create character depth that the script doesn't. Huey Lewis (Ricky Dean) was, surprisingly, very strong in his role as a reluctant father to Gwyneth Paltrow's character, Liv. While I found some of the acting to be wooden, and the direction was often predictable, there is something that appealed to me - I feel that the characters spoke through the music rather than the narrative, thus lifting the movie to a higher level. A mention also has to go to Braugher and Giamatti who are a delightful combination right up to the heartbreaking climax.