esult

This is a surprisingly well-made movie. It's funny, sure, but not in the punchliney way you'd expect. It's more that the whole thing is just so unexpected. Gene Wilder is completely charming and does some great understated acting in this film; Gilda Radner is funny everywhere she goes. Dom DeLouise pulls off a great drag character, and no one works too hard on their jokes--it's just a good time, filmed with surprising confidence. Though it looks like it's going to be another bad script with tired jokes for a niche videostore crowd, it's actually an extension of many of Mel Brooks' best directorial moments. It even has a Brooksian meta- narrative about film-making. I imagine it might look silly and dated on a TV screen with a movie channel logo in the corner, but when it's treated like a film instead of a schlock night, it's a respectable piece of work well worth anyone's time.