- Do 25. Jan 2007, 17:20
#251372
Vorwiegend habe ich den Film ja wegen Kristen Bell ("Veronica Mars") geschaut, aber auch der Rest des Casts ist recht gut.
Meine Lieblingsnummer des Filmes ist die, in der Kristen Bell als Mary Lane Aber auch die Eröffnungsnummer ist ziemlich cool.
Ich sah den Film gestern und muss sagen, dass es einer der lustigsten Filme ist, die ich je gesehen habe. Herrlich albern und unterhaltsam.
One can’t be a fan of cult movies without stumbling upon Reefer Madness, the 1938 anti-marijuana propaganda film that at its best is laughable and at its worst is cringeworthy. The ownership of the original film was never determined, leaving the cult classic in the public domain, which has in turn led to it’s resurgence every couple of years. Last year a newly restored version of the film hit DVD, although nothing was really noteworthy about that release other then the colorization of the movie. This release has something truly different in mind: writers Kevin Murphy, Dan Studney and director Andy Fickman bring their off Broadway musical adaptation of the tale to the screen courtesy of Showtime and the movie may never be the same again.
Jimmy (Christian Campbell) and Mary (Kristen Bell) are high school sweet hearts, full of naive ideas about how love should be - romantic like Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet (they haven’t actually read the full play to find out how it ends). Unfortunately Jimmy is targeted by Jack (Steven Weber), a marijuana dealer always looking for new customers. It isn’t long before Jimmy is introduced to the wonders of wacky weed, causing him to instantly drop all his interests, including school and Mary, in favor of getting high and doing whatever it takes to get that next toke. Along the way his habit leads to him stealing from a church, hitting a pedestrian in his car (although he’s not the one driving), and killing his true love, Mary (although he’s not the one who pulls the trigger). Yes, Marijuana is a killer habit. As the title song says: Reefer Madness is turning our children into hooligans and whores!
To add to the laughability of just how over the top the ideas of Reefer Madness are, the bulk of The Movie Musical is presented as a movie within a movie. Jimmy and Mary’s story is that of Tell Your Children, a movie that is being presented to the parents of an upstanding community by an unnamed lecturer (Alan Cumming). This allows the filmmakers to use their musical to turn this into a different type of cautionary tale: one about propaganda. Any time one of the parents stands up and speaks out about the ridiculousness before them the lecturer shuts them up, making them feel like they have to be one of the pack. As such, the movie becomes a commentary on how propaganda works and allows for a great performance by Cumming who serves not only as the lecturer, but also is inserted into Jimmy and Mary’s story at random points to serve as the narrator. You have to respect an actor who can transform from suited professional one moment, to satanic Goat-Man the next, and wind up as President FDR by the finale, giving each of the parts his full respect and attention when he's in them.
For that matter, all of the performances are incredible, something unexpected from a film that forces as much 1930’s snappy patter as possible, with lines like “he’s wound tighter then an eight-day clock”. Some of the actors, like the two leads (Campbell and Bell), have been with the show since its earlier days and have had plenty of time to grow comfortable with their characters. Others joined just for the movie version of the musical, but still put in impressive performances (Weber and “Saturday Night Live”’s Ana Gasteyer). Most deserving of mention is the acting of Jack’s two always drugged up cohorts: John Kassir (voice of “Tales from the Crypt”’s cryptkeeper) who emulates Bobcat Goldthwait as Ralph, a constantly high junkie, and Amy Spanger as Sally, who puts in a sexy comedic performance worthy of Madeline Kahn. Between the two of them, the metadrama totally sells the idea that there is no drug more dangerous then marijuana, not even heroin. Robert Torti also puts in a strangely fascinating performance as Jesus in one of the musical’s greatest number’s: “Listen to Jesus, Jimmy”. Imagine Jesus as a Vegas lounge singer, complete with tossing communion wafers like guitar picks and you’ve got the idea.
The best compliment I can give the movie is that the songs are infectious: completely enjoyable as the movie presents them and then extremely memorable after everything is over with. The production values of the sixteen musical numbers are amazing, with wondrous adaptations of stage dance numbers brought to the screen. After watching the movie I found myself humming several of the tunes while grocery shopping. I can only thank the region I live in for the fact that nobody looked at me strangely for singing lyrics about loving my Mary Jane. I only wish the film had a soundtrack available so I could continue to enjoy the music outside of the movie (there is a soundtrack available, but it’s for the original L.A. production which was changed for the Off Broadway run and then changed again for the screen adaptation).
The original Reefer Madness really is a film that should have disappeared years ago, but has been kept alive through cult fandom. Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical will most likely be kept alive by that same group of fans, but with one big difference: it actually deserves to stay around! Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney should be incredibly proud of what they’ve accomplished with their little idea of converting the propagandist film to a tongue in cheek musical, as should everyone who has joined them along the way. Part Rocky Horror and part Little Shop of Horrors, this is a film that will be remembered for years to come.
Vorwiegend habe ich den Film ja wegen Kristen Bell ("Veronica Mars") geschaut, aber auch der Rest des Casts ist recht gut.
Meine Lieblingsnummer des Filmes ist die, in der Kristen Bell als Mary Lane
versteckter Inhalt:
