Qua la mano picchiatello!..

Jerry Lewis has always been one of the most awesomely gifted comedians in the business. He can make you laugh so hard, your ribs hurt. He can also bore (and embarrass) the snot out of you. This movie is, truthfully, uneven. The first ten minutes, as the poor schnook tries merely to sit down in a doctor's office, are brilliant, screamingly funny. Other bits (there really isn't much of a plot) traverse a range from lying there like iron ingots to surreally jaw-dropping. The French aren't necessarily crazy. The highs in this movie soar, the lows strain to reach the curb. Welcome to a Jerry Lewis movie. If you can't handle that, this isn't for you.

Cracking Up (1983)

1/2 (out of 4)

Jerry Lewis wrote, produced and directs this film where he also stars as a nerd who wants to commit suicide for his various problems. He ends up going to Dr. Pletchick (Herb Edelman) who tries to cure him of his dumbness.

For his 90th birthday Mr. Lewis appeared on Turner Classic Movies to discuss various films and I must admit that I was a little shocked that they were showing this picture. In his introduction Lewis talked about the constant pain he is in from various falls that he did to get a laugh throughout his career. Lewis was in a lot of pain while making this movie and it's rather sad that he did so many physical things here because the end result is quite horrible and it certainly wasn't worth the pain he had to go through.

I'm not going to sit here and say that I never laughed because that would be a lie. There were a couple segments that had a couple laughs but the majority of the film is just a complete misfire. It really does seem as if Lewis was sitting around drinking with friends and coming up with stuff they thought were funny in their drunken minds. On film it just doesn't work. The opening sequence has Lewis walking into a hotel to kill himself. He has many objects to do so and we see him fail at doing it. The next scene is a very long sequence where he's trying to get into the doctor's office but keeps sliding and falling everywhere.

There's a lot of physical humor like this where Lewis is trying to recapture his earlier days but it just doesn't work. There are so many awful moments here that you honestly can't blame anyone but Lewis. Naturally comedy is a subjective thing but I doubt even the French would laugh at this film. There are many cameos throughout including Milton Berle dressed in drag, Sammy Davis, Jr. playing himself and Dick Butkus. As for Lewis, he plays several characters here but all the effort was really for nothing because the film is rather embarrassing.

This is a sloppy mess of a comedy, with barely a plot to speak of, yet it contains some of the funniest bits Mr. Lewis has ever committed to film. It's one helluva lot better than the previous movie, "Hardly Working" which got a big theatrical release. It is the "Test Market Audience Mentality" that kept this excellent movie from getting a big-screen release in the U.S. "Cracking Up" keeps moving--if one gag fails, don't worry because there will be another, funnier one right on top of it. This overlooked gem has no less a fan than Martin Scorsese, who particularly loved the waxy floor opening credits sequence.

The final Lewis directed opus is his finest. He has never been funnier or more inventive. In the opening sequence, Jerry gets every laugh possible with vinyl. Of course the sequence goes on much too long, but that is exactly what you expect from Jerry. The French costume sketch is very clever. The best gag sequence in the film concerns the waitress and her listing of salad dresssings. I laugh every time I think of this sequence. Most people consider "The Nutty Professor" to be the best Lewis film, but this one is much more fun. I also recommend the first Lewis directed film, "The Bellboy", where Lewis is out to prove that he is a worthy writer-director.

THIS is the film Jerry Lewis should have made his min-comeback with instead of the mawkish "Hardly Working". Yes, there isn't much of a story here, but like "The Bellboy" the gags for the most part are really pretty funny. The opening title sequence may contain Jerry's best moment in the film as he tries to cross a highly polished floor. Then listen what happens when the title card of the film's composer comes up. The scene where Jerry plays a cop and pulls over a overweight speeder is also one of his funniest in years. Can't argue this is a great film, but it IS funny and that's something Jerry had not been since at least "The Big Mouth" back in 1967. The other films Jerry made around this time were either just terrible ("Slapstick Encounters") or featured more of his dramatic side ("KIng of Comedy", "Funny Bones"). This film is just plain funny and its too bad it never got a wide theatrical release.