Martin and Lewis

MARTIN & LEWIS was the 2002 TV movie that traced the rise and eventual destruction of one of the greatest show business teams in Hollywood history. Even though I have always felt Martin and Lewis are worthy subjects of a theatrical biopic, I will take this over nothing. This movie starts in the 1940's and showcases the beginning of both of these show business legends and implies that both were struggling and about to go under when, according to this film, both were booked at the same club and Lewis inserted himself into Martin's act and the audience thought they were so funny together that they became an act that sold out nightclubs and eventually segued into a lucrative movie career. I don't know for sure how close it is to the truth, but this film depicts Jerry Lewis as an insecure, career-driven ego maniac who sincerely thought he was the brains of the act and that they would be nowhere without him and Martin is the guy who just sort of allowed Lewis to push and prod him through their success until Lewis' ego got to be too much for Dean to take. Whether or not this is what really happened, I guess only Dean and Jerry can say for sure, but it made for an immensely entertaining TV movie that had me riveted from start to finish. Sean Hayes received an Emmy nomination for his nearly flawless recreation of Jerry Lewis, from an insecure unknown comic begging for his dad's approval to the egomaniac whose insecurities, paranoia, and control issues drove Martin and everyone else to the edge. Jeremy Northam's powerhouse turn as Dean Martin matches Hayes note for note. Martin's singing voice is dubbed in for the musical sequences, but the rest is Northam, who brings Martin's easy and laid back persona beautifully to life here. He may not really resemble Martin physically, but Martin's personality, spirit and even his speaking voice were on the money for me here and the interaction between Northam and Hayes is kinetic here...a joy to watch. Mention should also be made of Paula Cale as Dean's first wife, Bettya and to Kate Levering as Dean's second wife, Jeanne. This TV movie was a triumph and one of the few times I wished a film could have been longer. This one definitely left me wanting more. I'm still hoping it will inspire a theatrical look at this legendary team.

Save for a slight alteration of a fact in the genesis of the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis saga, this made-for-television bio-pic is perfect in its story and depictions. The alteration concerns how the duo got together for what would be the triggering of their memorable 10-year partnership. The film shows Lewis, about to bomb himself out of his engagement at the 500 Club in Atlantic City, phoning Martin's (first) agent, Lou Perry. Lewis specifically asks him to send Dean to reprise their earlier-shown, spur-of-the-moment, stage collaboration (at the Havana-Madrid Club). In reality, it was the compassionate Perry who, upon receiving a frantic call from a sobbing Jerry Lewis asking for help, decides to send Dean Martin to the rescue. The result correctly is shown to be alchemic, and, for at first better-then-worse, the Martin and Lewis team is truly born. In 1973, Arthur Marx penned an outstanding bio-novel about the duo, "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime." As Marx, the writers/producers of this film are admirably unafraid to present full character profiles of Martin and Lewis. As human beings, the performers sometimes glaringly left much to be desired. Jeremy Northam and Sean Hayes, as Dean and Jerry, give excellent performances, as do Paula Gale and Kate Levering as Martin's first and second wives, Betty and Jeanne. This is a first-rate production, not the least of its values is its capturing of the post-war cultural flavor of the period in which the Martin and Lewis tandem flourished.

Biopics can be a dangerous and tricky business, especially when actors portray other actors. In this case all was well. The acting was good and the sets were well planned. Sean Hayes was perfectly cast as the zany Jerry Lewis. Jeremy Northam, on the same hand, had that dangerous charm that the early Dean Martin was known for. However, his lip-synching was occasionally far off and when speaking he often sounded distractedly more like Humphrey Bogart than Dean Martin.

Overall, the energy and the mood was well maintained, and we got to see inside the lives of two wonderful talents from the past.

Hats off!

If you liked Martin and Lewis movies, then you'll like this movie. It tells of the rocky history that may not have known about these two. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it. Even though it was a made for TV movie, You'll still like it. I would even watch it again.

I think a better title for "Martin & Lewis" would have been, "Dean Martin was nothing without Jerry Lewis". Sadly, this was not true.

It's no surprise that Lewis said he loved this film. At the same time, I'm sure if Martin were alive today, he would feel he had just been roasted, in a bad way.

It seems as though this film was actually written by Jerry Lewis or by fans of Lewis angry at Dean Martin. The portrayal of Dean Martin in this film as an alcoholic, philandering, friend of mobsters is wholly inaccurate. This TV-movie would have you believe that without Lewis, Martin would have gone down in flames early in his career. Again, this is simply not true. Dean Martin was already a success when Lewis came along with sole comic routine. Further proof against this fallacy is the fact that Martin went on, after the dissolution of the partnership, to a very successful career in films and music.

The real story as to why this partnership broke-up? Jerry Lewis was an insecure, money-grubbing, control-freak that would steal Martin's lines and would be jealous of any attention Martin would get. Does this TV-film allude to any of this? To its' credit, yes, it does, but the films' writers dire need to try and show a balanced reason for why the comedy team broke up moves past these issues far too fast and attacks Martin in ways that have no connection to reality.

The worst part of all this is that I didn't even find myself laughing at any of the "comic" bits that were in this film. I think if you're going to make a film about one of the most successful comedy teams in history, you should at least make some of it funny.