A long time ago, Mel Brooks had a subtle side.
Hard to believe, isn't it? The man responsible for such guffaw-fests as "Blazing Saddles", "Silent Movie", "High Anxiety" and such.... SUBTLE?
In "The Twelve Chairs", he does get laughs out of the story of a Russian nobleman searching for jewels sewn into one of twelve of his family's chairs that have been sold with the rest of his family's possessions. But not the way we're use to seeing Mel earn them.
This, time, he gets them through character study, human nature, individuals' reactions to certain embarrassing situations and, of course, good old-fashioned greed. And the laughs are there, to be sure.
I'm actually surprised that I liked this as much as I did. I'm used to Mel up there with the lampshade on his head, yucking it up with wild abandon. This film, subtle as it is, makes me laugh.
Of course, for purists, there's always good old DeLuise as another conniver searching for the same jewels. He makes with the wildness and insanity that makes a Mel Brooks film a Mel Brooks film, and he's a joy to see.
The others, Moody and Langella in particular, play regular human beings who see a situation, assess it and act as (nearly) anyone else would. More humorously, of course.
Seek out "The Twelve Chairs". Rare as it is, a rose by any other name....
And you know the rest.
Eight stars. Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
Hard to believe, isn't it? The man responsible for such guffaw-fests as "Blazing Saddles", "Silent Movie", "High Anxiety" and such.... SUBTLE?
In "The Twelve Chairs", he does get laughs out of the story of a Russian nobleman searching for jewels sewn into one of twelve of his family's chairs that have been sold with the rest of his family's possessions. But not the way we're use to seeing Mel earn them.
This, time, he gets them through character study, human nature, individuals' reactions to certain embarrassing situations and, of course, good old-fashioned greed. And the laughs are there, to be sure.
I'm actually surprised that I liked this as much as I did. I'm used to Mel up there with the lampshade on his head, yucking it up with wild abandon. This film, subtle as it is, makes me laugh.
Of course, for purists, there's always good old DeLuise as another conniver searching for the same jewels. He makes with the wildness and insanity that makes a Mel Brooks film a Mel Brooks film, and he's a joy to see.
The others, Moody and Langella in particular, play regular human beings who see a situation, assess it and act as (nearly) anyone else would. More humorously, of course.
Seek out "The Twelve Chairs". Rare as it is, a rose by any other name....
And you know the rest.
Eight stars. Hey! Hey, hey, hey!