O Azarão

Watched this recently for the first time in many years on Netflix, as I thought it might be the same movie I enjoyed when I was a kid, and it was! 'The Longshot' is a fun, breezy way to pass a rainy afternoon with a few chuckles, and I must say some good laughs.

The plot concerns four buddies who love betting horses at their local track. With not much else going on in their lives (They are presented as lovable losers), they fall into a scheme to bet a fixed horse race with money borrowed from the mob! Tim Conway (Who wrote the script) Harvey Korman, Jack Weston, and Ted Wass are the four buddies who take part in the action. We get a glimpse into each characters home life, where they are browbeaten husbands, content to play cards in Conway's garage, or, in a great scene, happy to grill steaks in the back of Ted Wass' possessed station wagon. It really is a funny movie with some good comic performances from all the actors. I won't give away the ending, but suffice to say it'll leave a smile on your face as the credits roll.

Two bonuses, Eddie Deezen (Of 'Grease' fame plays a funny bellhop in a cameo, and Jonathan Winters brings the laughs as an old tow truck driver. Give the 'Longshot' a chance, you'll be happy you did!

I've never been into horse races, so "The Longshot" shouldn't be the sort of movie that appeals to me. I took an interest because it's directed by Paul Bartel (of "Eating Raoul" fame) and because the cast includes Harvey Korman, Tim Conway and Stella Stevens.

It's a mixed bag. There are some slapstick scenes (namely the toilet) and some sexy ones (Stella Stevens was always a babe), but it's not exactly laugh-out-loud funny. Maybe it wasn't trying to be. Either way, this is one movie that won't appeal to everyone. Definitely more sedate than I prefer.

The rest of the cast includes Anne Meara, Edie McClurg, Eddie Deezen and Jonathan Winters.

Imagine a rap song by Ice-T... and Tim Conway! That's how it starts. There are a lot of funny moments throughout the movie. The scene where Tim is in Stella Steven's room is hilarious.

I watched this movie especially to see the cameo by Ernie Anderson. I was disappointed that he didn't get a close-up, I recognized him by his voice.

Most movie guides give this movie one star. Highly underrated. I'd give it two and a half.

If you like Tim Conway, watch this one.

The prior comments for "The Longshot" are not true. It's not a series of skits strung together. It's a full-fledged comedy film that deserves to be appreciated more than it is. These skilled character actors and actresses bring the plot to life, and it's a plot filled with the pathetic losers who live just on the fringes of prosperity and can never seem to get ahead. To these guys, $100 is big, big money. It's a film about losers and how they never stop trying to become winners, and that's the key to it's appeal.

The film focuses on the characters played by Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Jack Weston and Ted Wass, and boy, are these guys ever grade A losers. They've spent their lives at the local horse track, trying to get that big win, but they never do. They decide to take the advice of a trackhand who says he can make a horse win and bet enough to make a bundle. Because none of them have a dime they try to borrow the money from the track rich lady who has a stable of winning racehorses, and they decide Conway's character should seduce the money out of her because they can tell she's hot for him. This turns out to be the disaster you'd expect, so they are reduced to going to the local syndicate boss to borrow the money. When they find out the trackhand is not on the up and up and they've already place the bet with the borrowed mob money, they panic.

All of these people are amazing; they are losers extraordinare, losers for the ages - the epitome of loserness. Ted Wass, in particular, is so good it's uncanny. He is a man who is so devoid of intellect he can't even figure out what 1/4 of $20 is, but he's such a sweet, sincere, loyal friend that he promises to stand in the way of the gangsters when they come for the rest of his friends. He lives in a 6 foot wide mini-trailer with his fish; he sets up a picture of himself by the fishbowl when he leaves, so the fish isn't lonely. Everything he owns is 11 years old, including the fish. Anne Meara is a trip as Conway's wife, who knows he can't do anything right yet sticks with him with no idea that he will ever get his or her head above water. Joseph Ruskin ably handles the mob boss role and George DiCenzo is great as the mob boss' righthand man. Conway is the shoe salesman who is the nominal leader of the group; his car is a heap, and the driver's side window is broken so he uses cardboard. He doesn't have any more brains than the rest, but he has more confidence and he never stops talking. In this group, that makes him a leader.

In short, this is a quiet comedy film that doesn't go for the belly laughs but gets them anyway. I've seen it a hundred times and it never gets old. Beware, though, of the cut cable version that has been running, and make sure you watch the version put out on VHS or DVD. These different versions may account for the bad reviews, because the version I've seen on A&E is not the theatrical release but a butchered, watered down cut that is very different.

It appears that the major Hollywood studio that backed this so-called comedy didn't give it much of a promotional or distribution push. Watching the movie, it doesn't take long to figure out why the studio heads got nervous. "The Longshot" is an unbelievably lame comedy. Most of the fault has to go to Tim Conway, who wrote the not ready to be filmed screenplay. There is barely a story here, and the movie frequently comes to a complete stop for minutes on end to try and deliver humor. That wouldn't be bad if the humor was actually funny, but for the most part it isn't. In fact, I only laughed once, at a sight gag involving Tim Conway dressed only in his underclothes. Conway and the rest of the cast have shown talent elsewhere, but they simply can't do anything with this screenplay and the dull direction by Paul Bartel. However, if you've ever wanted to hear Tim Conway do an old school style rap number with Ice-T, this movie will give you your chance.