A truly original comedy, great for anyone who's seen life's ups and downs. The performances are deeply felt and there are some subtle yet profound comic statements about mortality, self-delusion, and second-chances. It has an original look and good pace. Douglas and Pollak make an unusual but well-matched pair.If you like stories about the bitter-sweet of life, about roads taken and not, this is a good bet. A great film for the adults in a family to watch together...I imagine it could catalyze some great talks about choices, marriage, and money. Clearly the filmmakers put a lot of heart and thought into what they were making.
4 Reviews
Colorful, Edgy Black Comedy About Love, Death & Renovation
vic-13220 November 2014
A new Black Comedy by writer-director Bruce Mason is a full-length gem of a film starring Illeana Douglas and Kevin Pollak, filmed in a boisterous, colorful 1960's-style with a fun. swingy score to boot. The two leads play a bickering couple, Rita & Heaton Upshaw whose rather palatial mansion with luscious lawns and swimming pool offer "Headquarters for B & B Fun" (we learn later they were highest rated B & B in 1983). But a receding economy mirrors a marriage also in recession. The story begins with a familiar banker visiting the Upshaws to say he's NOT extending their loan and, therefore: foreclosure is inevitable. Pollak's broad, comic abilities are perfect for Heaton (whom she calls "Skipper" throughout) --he often burst into hilarious little slapstick fits, and Douglas (whom he occasionally calls "Lovey") is maybe a little more broad with her comic portrayal than we are accustomed to (perhaps to better match/fight Pollak) --but it all melds together beautifully: the chemistry of this long-anguished couple rings truer with each scene. The film's opening --revealing a mansion in disarray-- is nicely detailed with the faulty wiring in the broken house (nothing works right: the oven, the dryer, outlets that cause a vacuum to explode) We get a sense of the couple's history (She levels him by blatantly questioning two years without sex, and he fires back "I didn't want to get in the way of your hot flashes!"). If I questioned the somewhat lengthy set-up, fun as it is, it is vital to the story's darkly comic, karmic-infused finale --macabre as it is --and which we don't see coming.
Once their doom is set, fate (or the comedy gods) send an old man in a wheelchair --their "last customer ever", so they think.-- and he becomes a savior. The films purpose --and the story's raison d' etre-- is revealed. The movie's silliness is going to embrace the dead-serious subject of Assisted Suicide. The darker the turns Mason takes, the funnier it gets. And the more unpredictable: Just when you think the ridiculousness will keep trying to top itself, a rather beautiful scene unfolds with an elderly couple showing the underside, the urgency of this end of life choice. These two daffy "losers" Rita and Heaton gain some nobility once they become "successful" and infused with a sense of purpose; Douglas is quite touching at moments with this discovery...
I laughed out loud at many incidental details peppered throughout--a Mason trademark in is previous film work and all his plays; For instance, the concoction of yogurt and barbiturates assembled for the final meal is termed the "Exit Yogurt", and Rita's entrance in the "foreclosure scene" has her hair dolled up hilariously into a nesty mountain held in place by two gigantic pink chopsticks....
This is Mason's first full-length feature and it's an impressive achievement A truly funny black comedy is a genre that rarely succeeds this well ("Kind Hearts and Coronets" "Harold & Maude" "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" come to mind). Like the characters in his plays, Mason has drawn two people --Heaton & Rita-- who dream Big: They envision themselves functioning at a sophisticated level, completely unaware of the dysfunction bred in them that keeps them out of the game.
Once their doom is set, fate (or the comedy gods) send an old man in a wheelchair --their "last customer ever", so they think.-- and he becomes a savior. The films purpose --and the story's raison d' etre-- is revealed. The movie's silliness is going to embrace the dead-serious subject of Assisted Suicide. The darker the turns Mason takes, the funnier it gets. And the more unpredictable: Just when you think the ridiculousness will keep trying to top itself, a rather beautiful scene unfolds with an elderly couple showing the underside, the urgency of this end of life choice. These two daffy "losers" Rita and Heaton gain some nobility once they become "successful" and infused with a sense of purpose; Douglas is quite touching at moments with this discovery...
I laughed out loud at many incidental details peppered throughout--a Mason trademark in is previous film work and all his plays; For instance, the concoction of yogurt and barbiturates assembled for the final meal is termed the "Exit Yogurt", and Rita's entrance in the "foreclosure scene" has her hair dolled up hilariously into a nesty mountain held in place by two gigantic pink chopsticks....
This is Mason's first full-length feature and it's an impressive achievement A truly funny black comedy is a genre that rarely succeeds this well ("Kind Hearts and Coronets" "Harold & Maude" "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" come to mind). Like the characters in his plays, Mason has drawn two people --Heaton & Rita-- who dream Big: They envision themselves functioning at a sophisticated level, completely unaware of the dysfunction bred in them that keeps them out of the game.
Great Comedy Movie!
minniewmiles2 November 2015
It's refreshing to see a new comedy with fresh and unpredictable writing. I feel very happy to see this comedy movie. I am a great fan of writer-director Bruce Mason. His creation is very popular among all the category. This movie who played in any role he works very good of his/her own position. It is the mirror of original comedy film. It is the family comedy movie, every person in the family watch this movie together. In this movie illeana Douglas and kevin pollak are ahilarious couple who work is very appreciable. I think this movie is heart- warming and funny movie, but one thing I didn't support from a film about suicides! Overall all the subject and location, situation everything is very decorated. I hope every person see this movie with their own family and friends. I enjoy this movie very much.
Heartwarming Comedy about Assisted Suicide
graceefree2 November 2015
The Upshaws (Illeana Douglas and Kevin Pollak) are a hilarious couple who constantly nag on each other while their bed and breakfast is failing. Did I mention they've got a recently divorced hot neighbor played by Molly Sims living next door, too? Their business starts to boom, however, when new customers start coming there to die peacefully via assisted suicides. It was heart-warming and quite funny to say the least-- which I didn't expect from a film about suicides!! The couple starts to really take on the new business with a lot of heart, and will comically go to great lengths to make every customer's dying wish come true. It really puts new meaning behind "til death do us part." The director created the film in a truly unique style staying true to the comedies we used to see in the 1970s. That, paired with the authentic performances and a truly original story makes me recommend Chez Upshaw to all my friends and family!
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
