*** This review contains significant spoilers ***
This movie was supposed to be funny and we were supposed to enjoy the adventures of Captain St. James, the man who "makes everyone happy." I just couldn't help feeling very annoyed at the bigamous captain and sorry for his unsuspecting wives. The truth was, the only one he was making happy was himself, and he expected his wives to remain exactly the same, with no room for growth or change on their part. I found this infuriating.
Was I taking it too seriously? I'm sure I was! But I couldn't help it, I found myself just waiting for the guy's comeuppance. I loved it when the women told them just how unhappy they actually were, but shortly thereafter, one of the wives is murdered -- even this is played for laughs, as our hero uses the confusion surrounding the murder to sneak away.
I guess I just don't find bigamy and murder funny. Even less funny is premeditated murder for hire. While I fully expected that the Captain was not actually executed, I found it horrible that the firing squad, instead of firing into the air or at the wall, killed their commander. This isn't emphasized in the film, but the Captain has to step over the commander's body in order to pay off the firing squad. So, having committed one more hideously irresponsible act, our hero goes smirking into the sunset in order to continue deceiving and bribing his way through life.
Not my cup of tea.
This movie was supposed to be funny and we were supposed to enjoy the adventures of Captain St. James, the man who "makes everyone happy." I just couldn't help feeling very annoyed at the bigamous captain and sorry for his unsuspecting wives. The truth was, the only one he was making happy was himself, and he expected his wives to remain exactly the same, with no room for growth or change on their part. I found this infuriating.
Was I taking it too seriously? I'm sure I was! But I couldn't help it, I found myself just waiting for the guy's comeuppance. I loved it when the women told them just how unhappy they actually were, but shortly thereafter, one of the wives is murdered -- even this is played for laughs, as our hero uses the confusion surrounding the murder to sneak away.
I guess I just don't find bigamy and murder funny. Even less funny is premeditated murder for hire. While I fully expected that the Captain was not actually executed, I found it horrible that the firing squad, instead of firing into the air or at the wall, killed their commander. This isn't emphasized in the film, but the Captain has to step over the commander's body in order to pay off the firing squad. So, having committed one more hideously irresponsible act, our hero goes smirking into the sunset in order to continue deceiving and bribing his way through life.
Not my cup of tea.