Mr. Magoo

The movie "Mr. Magoo" is an adaptation of the popular cartoon. For what it's worth, it does a good job of presenting itself as a live-action cartoon. Leslie Nielsen has made a career of acting in screwball comedy. He seems to fit his role well as the famously weak-eyed character. In this day and age of political correctness, making a movie such as this was bound to raise a few hackles. The little disclaimer run by Disney about the blind should give you an idea what the PC movement has done to movies today. The point of the cartoon was not to put down the blind at all. So forget what others say, and look this "Magoo" over!

Mr Magoo was a hilarious movie. I don't know why everyone gives it so much grief. First of all, Leslie Nielsen is one of the funniest actors alive, and I personally like movies in which the characters just happen to walk right into a worst case scenario. And after three Naked Gun movies, who's better qualified for that job than Leslie Nielsen. In this movie, Nielsen's character, Mr. Magoo, has to solve the case of a stolen ruby from his mueseum. Coming along with him are his dog, Angus and his nephew, Waldo. To those of you who saw the film and hated it, remember, the film is directed toward kids and Disney fans. It wasn't meant to be an "A" class movie.

PS: Would you like it more if you knew that Jennifer Garner is in it?

Mr Magoo is as wealthy as he is short-sighted and it is this combination that sees him trapped in the museum he is patron of late one night, when a robbery occurs. The CCTV footage makes him look like he was in on it and the FBI/CIA investigation focuses on him as they try to locate a stolen diamond while keeping the robbery on the low-down. Meanwhile, as he fishes, Magoo manages to have the stolen jewel dropped into his fishing box (best not to ask how) and thus is unwittingly pursued by thieves and cops.

OK. This is based on a old cartoon character so I tried to ignore the modern PC outrage over this film by disabled groups protesting the depiction of partial blindness. According to IMDb it was this that saw the film sliding into video obscurity however I beg to differ. I was outraged by this film – but not for the reasons of objecting to the fact that it gets laughs out of a disability, but rather the fact that it totally fails to get laughs out of a disability. I'd love to pretend to be politically correct and sensitive but there we go! No, the main problem I had with the film is that it is simply not funny. Obviously the gags are all pretty obvious and can be seen coming from miles off but it still surprised me by how lazy it all was.

The plot makes no sense but this was perhaps to be expected, however the total delivery is poor. A constantly "wacky" score is forced upon us in a desperate attempt to make us believe that it is hilarious when it is not. Nielsen was a great choice for the lead but even he can do nothing with this rot and in failing to improve it he just becomes part of the problem. The support cast features turns from Garner, Hudson, Tobolowsky, Lynch, Ferrer and McDowell all of whom are either wasted, look embarrassed or both. As director Tong seems to worry that the jokes will surprise his audience and, I assume, fearing injury from split sides, makes sure that we all get a chance to see each and every gag coming from quite a distance.

Overall then, a film that will appeal to few audience demographics outside of children and those currently drunk. The jokes are obvious and lazy and all that is left is a terrible plot that (perhaps correctly) assumes the audience has the IQ of a basket and just hopes that a man stumbling around is enough to make it – for me personally, it wasn't.

I love the animated version of Mr. Magoo and was disappointed by the film version. The character has come under fire for mocking the disabled because of his deafness but he really is the hero each time and it makes a change for a hero to not be in full compliment of his faculties. The film tries but fails to capture the true magic of the bumbler from the cartoons but Leslie Nielsen looks uncomfortable here as more serious roles suit him better. Mr Magoo was always a two joke affair: 1) He couldn't see well and 2) he always made little quips and remarks to himself. Not something that would lend itself easily to an hour+ motion picture. In this case, the late Nielsen's charisma and a few decent gags make this run-of-the-mill, late 90's Disney-cartoon-adaptation a little more tolerable than most of its despised peers.

Overall rating: 6 out of 10.

This film is inspired by an old cartoon character, Mr. Magoo, a nice old man who refuses to wear glasses even though he is myopic and who, because of that, gets involved in comic confusions from which he always leaves unharmed (mostly by pure luck). The plot revolves around the theft of a huge ruby. Of course, given the comic and stereotyped kind of film and characters, I didn't expect a lot of verisimilitude on this plot, so I wasn't disappointed by it, but I understand those who has something to say on this. The lead character is played by Leslie Neilsen, an actor who has become a synonym for comedy and doesn't leave us disappointed. He is great at his work and manages to bring charm and joy to the character, making him enjoyable. Jokes are generally good but, after some time, we have already guessed what will happen. The rest of the cast does a fairly decent supporting job but doesn't have room for do much more. Villains are usually as clumsy as Magoo except for Luanne, a cunning and seductive villain played by Kelly Lynch.

The big problem with this movie is that it ends up being a guilty pleasure. We're laughing at a blind man, a handicapped person, and that makes us feel a little guilty and angry at the movie. The truth is that today it's fashionable to be politically correct, and I cannot think of a more politically incorrect character than Mr. Magoo, as lovely as he can be. The film itself seems to have this awareness, allowing the audience to guess the jokes before they happen and avoiding discomfort. Its super funny and has quality, but was punished by the public due to this feeling of guilt.