For me, it's difficult to disassociate the name of Frank Oz with arguably his most famous role, the vertically-challenged Jedi master Yoda. Despite a career directing movies since the early Eighties, Oz will forever conjure up images for me of the wizened green whatever-it-is sitting in a director's chair screaming "Action, you will!". Fortunately, it would appear as though the Force is strong with this which feels like an old-fashioned screwball comedy but played for as many laughs as possible.
Lawrence Jamieson (Michael Caine) has carved himself a lucrative lifestyle on the French Riveria, conning the rich and the gullible of their cash along with the help of local policeman Andre (Anton Rodgers) and Lawrence's faithful butler Arthur (Darth Sidious himself Ian McDiarmid). But when brash American huckster Freddy Benson (Steve Martin) comes to town, Lawrence senses a threat and tries every trick in the book to get rid of him. Clearly, only one can operate on this particular patch so they devise a bet - the first to scam $50'000 from the beautiful Janet Colgate (Glenn Headly) stays while the other leaves town for good. And so the con is on...
The plot might seem a little old-fashioned but "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" remains a solidly entertaining comedy that has a decent enough story at its heart to keep you interested. Caine isn't the strongest comic actor but channelling David Niven is pretty much all that required of the role and he does this perfectly. Martin is also on top form, being much more animated than I remember and is just brilliant in some scenes - the point where he is pretending to be a paraplegic while Caine batters his legs with a cane to "test" his nerves is simply hilarious! Headly does a fine job too of being blonde enough to appear vulnerable but stubborn enough to resist their ill-placed charm. My only real concern is the ending which, whilst performed as well as the rest of the film, is signposted fairly early on and doesn't really surprise as well as it should.
Although it looks and feels much older than it is, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" is still a highly enjoyable comedy caper. It looks pretty, as you'd expect on the Riveria, and Martin and Caine make a decent double act. The script has plenty of comic moments to savour and although the ending isn't disguised enough, it still provides a wonderfully fitting climax to proceedings. Assuming you're not put off by the thought of Yoda being behind the camera, you'd do well to track down this genteel but bitingly funny film.
Lawrence Jamieson (Michael Caine) has carved himself a lucrative lifestyle on the French Riveria, conning the rich and the gullible of their cash along with the help of local policeman Andre (Anton Rodgers) and Lawrence's faithful butler Arthur (Darth Sidious himself Ian McDiarmid). But when brash American huckster Freddy Benson (Steve Martin) comes to town, Lawrence senses a threat and tries every trick in the book to get rid of him. Clearly, only one can operate on this particular patch so they devise a bet - the first to scam $50'000 from the beautiful Janet Colgate (Glenn Headly) stays while the other leaves town for good. And so the con is on...
The plot might seem a little old-fashioned but "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" remains a solidly entertaining comedy that has a decent enough story at its heart to keep you interested. Caine isn't the strongest comic actor but channelling David Niven is pretty much all that required of the role and he does this perfectly. Martin is also on top form, being much more animated than I remember and is just brilliant in some scenes - the point where he is pretending to be a paraplegic while Caine batters his legs with a cane to "test" his nerves is simply hilarious! Headly does a fine job too of being blonde enough to appear vulnerable but stubborn enough to resist their ill-placed charm. My only real concern is the ending which, whilst performed as well as the rest of the film, is signposted fairly early on and doesn't really surprise as well as it should.
Although it looks and feels much older than it is, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" is still a highly enjoyable comedy caper. It looks pretty, as you'd expect on the Riveria, and Martin and Caine make a decent double act. The script has plenty of comic moments to savour and although the ending isn't disguised enough, it still provides a wonderfully fitting climax to proceedings. Assuming you're not put off by the thought of Yoda being behind the camera, you'd do well to track down this genteel but bitingly funny film.