Méli-mélo à Venise

Three different men check into a Venice hotel for very different reasons. Melvyn Orton has come to look at property being sold by Caroline Wright. Maurice Horton has come to meet a blind date that has been set up by a dating agency. Mike Lawton is a professional hit-man who has come to do a job. On their arrival each man is due to get information delivered to the hotel but the similarity of their surnames combined with language difficulties sees them getting the wrong contact information without knowing it. So Orton goes to view a house and finds himself held by a mobster. Horton thinks he is on a date with property seller Wright while Lawton thinks he has to kill Patricia Fulford (who thinks she is on a blind date).

Although this film produced the odd laugh from me, I found it very difficult to get past how very contrived and forced this farce was for the most part. It is a very dated British comedy that is rather predictable and very silly, those with low expectations might not be too disappointed because it occasionally amused me but there wasn't a great of wit here and everything was painted in very broad strokes. The characters are obviously thin and the comedy is supposed to come from all of them talking to one another at cross-purposes. At first this is a little funny but after a while it gets a bit tiresome and there isn't a great deal to distract as it moves forward. However I must contest those that call this the worst film they have ever seen; it isn't that bad – basic of course but it is weak, not terrible.

The cast mainly have little to do apart from act confused. Brown and Wilton are probably the best of the bunch and even they are not that good. They manage to produce interesting characters and are better for it. Moore has nothing to do of value and this is a poor thing to remember him by. Griffiths is amusing and works reasonable well with Kensit, but they don't have good material to work with. They all try hard to make the most of what they are working with but generally there isn't much there other than mugging.

Overall a faintly amusing farce but one that is far too contrived, forced and obvious to really be that funny. I can understand why many viewers hate it but it really isn't that bad – but it is pretty damn weak throughout but maybe if you are in an undemanding mood you'll get tickled by it a bit.

Take 3 Englishmen -

1. Michael Horton (a philanderer indulging in a surreptitious tryst) 2. Mike Lawton (a hit man assigned to rub out an Italian mob boss) 3. Melvin Orton (a mousey junior manager on a property-buying assignment for his overbearing boss)

and put them all in the same Venetian hotel with a bellhop who has great difficulty with the English language, and you have what promises to be a raucously funny good time, and 'Blame it on the Bellboy' delivers on the promise. This rousing comedy of confused identities comes right out of the tradition of the great British Ealing Studios film comedies of the late 50's and 60's (the same tradition 'A Fish Called Wanda' purported to come from; I found this movie a LOT funnier).

My only complaint is that some of the grim scenes of mob violence would be more at home in the 'Lethal Weapon' series; in a farce like this they seem jarringly out of place. However, beautiful Patsy Kensit's presence more than compensates for this minor complaint (she was the blonde secretary in Lethal Weapon 2, remember?).

On the whole, an A++ recommendation

This comedy film is better than most, even though it wasn't successful and the critics hated it.

It's set in Venice and involves farcical mix-ups that are caused by three very different men being confused with each other - because their surnames sound similar and they have the same initial.

Low rent comedy, but still offered a few laughs. Pinchot seems to be typecast in this sort of role as the stupid, confused foreigner. The chief of the thugs is also another guy we see playing the insane killer a lot, but both players do their jobs well. Overall, I liked this one, it was better than I expected and offered some nice shots of Venice.

The premise sounds very promising, and the cast is filled with very recognizable names and faces. As the story progresses of mistaken identities, miscommunication, and crossed wires, there are certainly plenty of laughs to be had as conversations get jumbled between what one character means and what another hears; sight gags, physical comedy, and near misses abound; and exaggerated characters and reactions adjoin ridiculous situational humor. At its best this boasts terrific, wild energy as the tangled plot becomes even more jumbled before the threads align toward their ultimate resolution(s), and the actors unfailingly bring their characters and the ill-fitting pairings to wonderful, vibrant life. In what was only his first full-length feature as writer or director, Mark Herman penned a terrifically smart, complex narrative with far-flung characters, and scene writing that strains to maintain order amidst the silliness. All along the way Herman illustrates fine capabilities as director even so early in his career - whipping his cast into a veritable frenzy, orchestrating action sequences with tremendous vigor, and somehow managing to keep some level of balance between the chaos of the proceedings and the steadiness that must necessarily be enforced to engage viewers.

With all this firmly in mind, the entertainment that 'Blame it on the bellboy' offers is perhaps inconsistent. Some moments are very funny; elsewhere the sense of comedic adventure lends itself more to light amusement. The problem is compounded by severe tonal issues that present in the first half especially, for the humor rather has difficulty counterbalancing the dark vibes and violence that arise as the cases of mistaken identity first start to bear fruit. Just as much to the point, there's a mean streak to the humor that just hasn't aged well; I'm sure the thirteen year olds among the audiences have been pleased over the years, but for anyone of a less juvenile persuasion the shtick doesn't stick well. Be all that as it may, mostly the madcap fervor this boasts, and the minor ingenuity of the convoluted scenario, take precedence over the less desirable facets. The writing is stronger than not, and I can't fault the direction at all; with reliable talent on hand like Dudley Moore, Bronson Pinchot, Richard Griffiths, and Andreas Katsulas, among others, enjoyment is assured even if it's not the utmost top of the line. This doesn't make a great first impression, but when all is said and done its strengths outweigh its weaknesses, and it really is a good time overall.

Unless you're a diehard fan of someone involved I don't think there's any need to go out of your way for it, and strictly speaking there are other titles one should prioritize in their watch list. Still, if you do have the chance to watch, this proves itself once you get past the rough patches that first present, and more than not it's pretty fun. It's not a must-see classic, but nor does every film need to be, and 'Blame it on the bellboy' ably plays in its space as something relatively light for a lazy day.