I did not like this movie. Tahlvin's right. This just didn't hold up. And if I had seen it in the 80s on repeat on HBO, I'm pretty sure that 14 year old me would have loved it, right? The medieval ghosts, the raunchy humor, It-Girl Darryl Hannah, the Guttenberg. But it just didn't age well. I kind of feel like slapsticky-humor like this never does. Remember how HILARIOUS Benny Hill used to be? The Three Stooges? Not so much anymore. I feel like the humor in this movie really fell victim to that. We just don't think watching a bed crash around and down a flight of stairs is funny.
But I didn't hate everything about it. I disagree that Peter O' Toole was miscast. I kind of love late-career O' Toole. It's like that period in Michael Caine's career where he'd do any role for the right paycheck ("I'm a paid actor, goddamn it."). And even if he is phoning in his performance for a stupid movie that he knows he's better than--- it was still kind of a great performance in that, who-gives-a-fuck way.
The real star of this show, however, is Beverly D'Angelo. This movie reminded me of how much I love her. She had a character she could play really well and she knew it: the super-sexy shrew that you love to hate. Coincidentally, I saw her playing a gentler version of this same character in Christmas Vacation several days after watching High Spirits. I don't mean this as hyperbole- she is a truly great actor performing her character perfectly in this movie (and pretty much every movie she's in). The real shame of it all is this: she was stuck in the BS stereotyped roles that Hollywood wrote for women in the 80s and 90s. And now that she's older, Hollywood doesn't have a place for her (as it doesn't for any woman over the age of 40). Can you imagine a 25-year-old Beverly D'Angelo acting in today's Hollywood? Holy shit. She's be bigger than Scarjo, Jennifer Lawrence and Brie Larson combined. She's a goddamn national treasure and it's a shame we don't recognize it.
But don't get me wrong. This movie sucked. And it largely sucked because Steve Guttenberg only knows how to make two faces: (1) the "aw-shucks" what's-going-on face; and (2) the uber-surprised gas face that makes him look like Bill Murray being bullrushed by Slimer. I like Guttenberg, but this guy is limited.Statistics: Posted by Kyle — Tue Dec 31, 2019 9:31 am
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