My Favorite Year
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Movie Reviews of My Favorite Year
Movie Review: Don't rent it, just buy it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I won't go into the plot, nearly everyone reviewing this touching, hilarious comedy has done that. I will tell you that the relationship between Benjy Stone (Mark Linn-Baker) and Alan Swann (Peter O'Toole) is developed incredibly well and is what makes this movie funny and sweet.The best scene is on the rooftop, where a drunken Benjy cannot stop an even drunker Alan Swann from rapelling down the side of the building using a firehose for a rope to help Benjy impress KC (Benjy's love interest). BTW, I disagree with the reviewers who believe the relationship between KC and Benjy develops too quickly. The relationship is in progress (though ground to a halt) when the story begins. It's only when Benjy, through what he learns from and about Swann, lets Benjy Stein show through the facade of Benjy Stone that KC decides she really likes him.
This movie will make you laugh aloud and will still touch you in the right ways. When this movie is over, we want to know what happens to Benjy and KC and Swann and Tess, because we care about the characters. It is a rare movie that can do this, but "My Favorite Year" succeeds brilliantly. Richard Benjamin at his best.
Joseph Bologna, Cameron Mitchell, Lanie Kazan and Bill Macy are wonderful in their roles. Mark Linn-Baker does not devolve into "Cousin Larry" from Perfect Strangers, but remains the ernest, funny Benjy and the scenes with him and Peter O'toole are remarkable. But it is Peter O'toole who steals this movie the way Alan Swann steals the ladies' hearts.
Movie Review: An affectionate & funny love letter to the Golden Age of Television
Summary: 5 Stars
After getting his start as a young writer on Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows" during the 50's, it was a no-brainer that Mel Brooks' production company (Brooksfilms Ltd.) would helm this ode to the early days of live television, where anything could (and practically did) happen.
The great Peter O'Toole racked up another Oscar nomination with his gleeful portrayal of Alan Swann, a famous but ill-behaved matinee idol up to his ears in booze and women, and scheduled to make his T.V. comedy debut. The cast is terrific: A pre-"Perfect Strangers" Mark Linn-Baker as an idolizing writer handed the almost-impossible task of keeping Swann in check until he appears on the "Comedy Calvacade" show; Jessica Harper as Linn-Baker's object of affection (and also, seems unable to tell a good joke); Joseph Bologna as a Sid Caesar-like comedian/star of "Calvacade"; Bill Macy as a rude & overbearing head writer; Selma Diamond as an overworked & crotchety head of wardrobe; and of course, Lainie Kazan cast perfectly as Linn-Baker's doting Jewish mother.
This film definitely qualifies as "heroic comedy", as you watch Linn-Baker's character Benjy Stone force Swann to face his fears and be "that silly, godd**med hero". Actor-director Richard Benjamin does a fine job of veering the viewer from laughs to poignancy and back. Occasionally, his touches of broad comedy get dangerously close to being too broad, but this film is probably his best effort. It made me laugh when it was released, and it still makes me laugh today.
Movie Review: Near Perfect Comedy
Summary: 5 Stars
Where to begin? Most of what is loved about this film has already been said so well by others. My friends and I discovered this gem when it was first released primarily due to our love of all things O'toole! We rented this on VHS, owned on tape, Laser disc and DVD as soon as we could. We hosted parties where we would always invite a neophyte to indoctrinate them to love this as we did... which we were surprised didn't always work! Some of our friends either just didn't get its beauty, or it may have been the fact that the three of us originals would recite every single line aloud, making it difficult for our newbies to judge and enjoy the film over our stage show. I have watched this film more than any single one in my 50+ years, and it never fails to hit the right note. More quotable lines than any other, great colorful characters, music to die from Nat King Cole and Les Paul, and more. Lots of familiar faces even for the non-movie-holic among us. Near perfect I said, I always have trouble with that slo-mo horse riding scene through Central Park. That always seemed lifted from a different type of film, but a small point nonetheless! I wish Richard Benjamin had helmed many more films, he did such a wonderful job here, thank you! "Ma, was there a reason you called?"Movie Review: Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Peter O'Toole's finest performance. Ever.In this sweetly, outrageously funny film, O'Toole plays an aging, alcoholic British movie star (Alan Swann) who is in desperate need of cash.
So he agrees to star on a Sid Caesar-type comedy show, back in '50s Manhattan.
Can they keep him sober enough to show up at rehearsals? Can they keep him out of every single woman's bed in New York City?
Mark-Linn Baker plays the nebbishy young writer in charge of keeping his boyhood idol in line. Can he keep his matinee illusions while keeping Swann out of trouble?
Joseph Bologna (Big Daddy) plays King Kaiser, the TV comedy star with mobster troubles.
Of course there's a girl's heart to be won. In this case, the smart and charming K.C., played by Minority Report's Jessica Harper.
And a hysterical turn by Bill Macy (Analyze This), as the show's dictatorial (and dirty minded) producer.
Broad farce, snappy dialogue, and even a horse chase through Central Park. And a big finish that has both exciting action and hysterical slapstick.
My Favorite Year is one of my favorite movies.
Movie Review: "Double the lad's bet for me, you toad!"
Summary: 5 Stars
"My Favorite Year" is one of my favorite movies. Set in 1954, it's about an aging movie idol, Alan Swann (Peter O'Toole), who is to make a guest appearance on a television variety show hosted by King Kaiser (Joseph Bologna). However, it turns out that Swann is a libidinous lush, and the freshman writer for the show, Benjie Stone (formerly Steinberg, played by Mark Linn-Baker), is assigned to stay with him--and keep him sober and out of trouble--until after the show. The rest of the movie concerns their adventures together. The film overflows with one-liners and physical comedy, all of which stays remarkably fresh and amusing, even after repeated viewings. The script produces some classic lines; for example, during a take-out feast in which Stone is trying to woo the object of his lust (K.C. Downing, played by Jessica Harper), she comments that he really knows his dim sum. He replies, "Katherine, Jews know two things: suffering and where to find great Chinese food." The DVD also has an informative voice-over commentary by Richard Benjamin, whose first directing job was this film.