Every now and then I see a film and, although it is well
made and seems to hit all its targets, I just can't enjoy it. Such is the Jerry
Lewis comedy THE BELLBOY. I can't say it's a bad movie because it really isn't.
It's an admittedly plotless series of 'amusing' vignettes centered on Lewis as
a hapless bellboy in a sprawling Miami
Beach resort hotel. I can admire the attempt to create
such a film which, in a way, is a feature length version of a sketch
comedy/variety TV show only with a much bigger budget. There is no ongoing
story thread or overarching development to get in the way of just going for a
laugh ever couple of minutes. Where it fails for me is that the movie never
once made me laugh. I grinned a few times - the Milton Berle sequence is
amusing - but that was the extent of the tickling of my funny bone. Regardless,
I did find things that kept me interested enough to watch the entire film.
Lewis is always a fascinating screen presence even when he is carrying a joke
or pratfall about two steps too far. Also, the film is a beautiful black and
white peek back in time at the attitudes and the fashion of a decade that seems
so bright and sharp when viewed through the long lens of Hollywood
distorted history. I'm glad I watched it but I don't think I'll ever revisit
it.
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