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Actors: Oliver Platt, Jerry Lewis, Lee Evans, Leslie Caron
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Funny Bones |
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Tommy Fawkes (Platt), the son of famous and successful comedian George Fawkes (Lewis), desperately wants to be a hit as an entertainer as well, but his debut in Vegas is a catastrophic flop. Some people have humor in their bones, his father tells him; you don't, and you never will. Shamed and angry, Tommy goes to Blackpool, England, where his family used to summer when he was a child, in the hope of finding something -- a brilliant idea or a partner -- that could make him a success. There he gets to know the Parkers, a retired pair of brothers who used to work with his George when he was starting out, their wives, and a brilliantly strange son, Jack Parker, who may have the funny bones knack. Tommy hopes to piece together an act, not knowing he will actually be piecing together the secrets of his family's past. This odd and rich 1995 film is not so much a comedy as a dark family drama about the business of comedy. There are subplots with a mob boss and a stolen wax egg, but the primary characters (hungry and desperate Platt, magisterial Lewis, strange Evans, and lovely 64-year-old Leslie Caron as the woman at the heart of the mysteries) are what make it a memorable story.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Funny Bones |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- performer or comedian
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- comedian
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
- deluded
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) fat
Events of movie makes character more...
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor?
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Body type
- (man) very skinny
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- challenged
Non-American film?
Yes
What language?
- English
Subtitles?
- No
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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