Four stars because even though I remember the '60s, I definitely was there. Morgan! was a hot ticket back then, said to be one of the most brilliant wacky satires ever filmed.
The reason: stylish and quirky direction, elegant and very fashionable Vanessa Redgrave, energetic David Warner, the exact opposite in looks and behavior of the Hollywood leading man.
Unfortunately, that isn't enough to make a decent movie, though millions wanted to believe it was. The alleged humor isn't "over-the-top," it's forced and artificial. There is nothing engaging about the title character: he really is insane and potentially dangerous. His wife's love-hate relationship with him (make that "amusement-hate") is not only inexplicable by reason, it doesn't even contribute to the plot (such as it is). It's just a circumstance that wants to wow you but doesn't. The Trotskyite-Stalinist feud between Morgan and his mom seems like another pointless gimmick, though I suppose making an English Communist the main character near the height of the Cold War was calculated to give the movie some kind of edgy, transgressive feel. Like most everything else here, however, it becomes tedious and annoying after the first fifteen minutes.
If you can possibly stay awake, it probably means you're loving it. I doubt there's a middle ground.
A few months after the premier of "Morgan" came the American "Lord Love a Duck." It's got some serious flaws too, but if irreverent '60s, pre-hippie, madcap comedy-satire is what you want, I'd try that one. At least part of the time it's crazy fun.
The reason: stylish and quirky direction, elegant and very fashionable Vanessa Redgrave, energetic David Warner, the exact opposite in looks and behavior of the Hollywood leading man.
Unfortunately, that isn't enough to make a decent movie, though millions wanted to believe it was. The alleged humor isn't "over-the-top," it's forced and artificial. There is nothing engaging about the title character: he really is insane and potentially dangerous. His wife's love-hate relationship with him (make that "amusement-hate") is not only inexplicable by reason, it doesn't even contribute to the plot (such as it is). It's just a circumstance that wants to wow you but doesn't. The Trotskyite-Stalinist feud between Morgan and his mom seems like another pointless gimmick, though I suppose making an English Communist the main character near the height of the Cold War was calculated to give the movie some kind of edgy, transgressive feel. Like most everything else here, however, it becomes tedious and annoying after the first fifteen minutes.
If you can possibly stay awake, it probably means you're loving it. I doubt there's a middle ground.
A few months after the premier of "Morgan" came the American "Lord Love a Duck." It's got some serious flaws too, but if irreverent '60s, pre-hippie, madcap comedy-satire is what you want, I'd try that one. At least part of the time it's crazy fun.