This movie is a wonderful comedy that unfortunately has been lump in with other films of Chevy Chase and other SNL alumni. The premise is very simple, Chase and his wife, the wonderful Madolyn Smith, are city dwellers who moved to the country where they find life to be filled with misadventure. They also find that their new town is filled with rather eccentric people and curious cuisines. The script is smarter than typical SNL alumni comedy, the cinematography and the pacing of the movie is right on the money. If there is one major shortcoming it is the casting of Chevy Chase. James Stewart in "Mr Hobbs takes a Vacation" hit the right notes for this type of character, an average man somewhat overwhelmed by his new and foreign environment, but Mr. Chase does not. It doesn't help that many of Mr. Chase's earlier characters were smart alecks surrounded by dullards. Here it's the opposite. Fans of Mr. Chase will not like this because he's not playing the character he's known for playing. Non fans will simply think a better actor who can play the average guy like Tom Hanks or Robert Hays (who was still somewhat well known at the time) would have made the movie much better.
Review of Funny Farm
