Nov. 21, 2003 - 9:20 am
i had been trying to find a chance to watch this film for a while. my mom recommended it, saying it was interesting to see and Steve at the Media Center also said it was hilarious. Stacey is finally here so we sat down to watch it together, seeing part of it on Monday night and part on Tuesday night.
this is a musical that takes place in 1950s New York and deals with a group of gamblers. it focuses particularly on Frank Sinatra's character who has been seeing a girl for about 14 years without ever committing to her and with Marlon Brando's character who gets locked into a bet with Sinatra. Sinatra bets Brando (a la She's All That (1999)) that he can't get a prudish bible beater to go on a date with him to Havana. Brando of course does get the date and he and his new girl (Jean Simmons) and Sinatra and his girl belt out the melodies.
one of the interesting things i was told about this movie was the lack of contractions and abbreviations being used, but also the huge amount of slang used. when they speak, they say things like "I just acquired five thousand fish." Nicely Nicely Johnson: "Five thousand? If it can be told, where did you take on this fine bundle of lettuce?"
i didn't really enjoy hearing Brando sing too much, but i was surprised that he was as good of a dancer as he was. the bar scene in Havana was hilarious and very nutty. it reminded me of the fight scene in the restaurant in Hot Shots! (1991). people coming out of nowhere and fighting with each other for no reason. then it turns into a food fight and people are getting hit with chairs and stuff. and they're all drunk and dancing like super weirdos.
Stacey and I enjoyed it pretty well though. if there's one thing we can agree on it's insane and over-the-top humor. which is why we watched Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) next.